[2][3][4][5] Due to the difficulty in collecting a type specimen for research, the spectacled flowerpecker remained without a recognized scientific name for over a decade after its initial discovery.

[8] The new flowerpecker was first observed and photographed on 18 June 2009 by Richard Webster, a tropical ecologist, at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge within the Danum Valley Conservation Area, Sabah, Malaysia.

[8] Subsequently, the spectacled flowerpecker has been photographed at the Maliau Basin in Sabah, Labi Road and the Belalong Canopy Walkway in Brunei and in Central Kalimantan.

[9] Recent sightings and photographs indicate that it is a regular visitor to the Belalong Canopy Walkway in the Ulu Temburong National Park, Brunei Darussalam.

[2] When first observed the birds at Danum Valley In Sabah were feeding in a fruiting epiphytic mistletoe that was parasitising a large Koompassia excelsa tree.

[10] Edwards et al. (2009) speculate that the spectacled flowerpecker is a rainforest canopy specialist, relying on ephemeral epiphytic fruits such as mistletoes, being highly mobile and rarely, if ever, visiting the understory of the forest - explaining why the new species remained undetected for so long.