New Britain Friarbird

Philemon cockerelli

A large brown honeyeater with a long dagger-like bill, a dark head, a contrastingly pale neck and underparts, and a dark area of naked facial skin. Juvenile shows a yellow-washed breast and olive-washed wings and tail. Found singly and in small groups in canopy of habitats from lowlands to foothills, including forest, edges, clearings, and plantations. Restricted to the Bismarck Archipelago. Distinguished from Bismarck Honeyeater  by lack of pale eye-ring, pale underparts and neck, and dark facial skin. Calls include a fluty, oriole-like “chewik-chow” with a lower-pitched second note, a sharp “chow,, and a crow-like “kra.”

Taxonomy

Scientific name
Philemon cockerelli
Authority
Sclater, PL, 1877
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Meliphagidae
Genus
Philemon

Range and habitat

Migration
Resident species

Conservation

Population trend
stable

Photos

Distribution

Other Birds

Sombre Tit

Sombre Tit

Poecile lugubris

Monochromatic tit dressed in black, white, and gray-brown; lacks any bright color. Size and structure similar to Great Tit. Note the contrasting head pattern with narrow white ear patches and an extensive black bib. Inhabits open deciduous forest, Mediterranean scrub, and on rocky mountain slopes. Calls are higher-pitched and faster than Great Tit, but similar to the Blue Tit’s “Si-si-si…” Song is less melodic than Great Tit.

Crowned Eagle

Crowned Eagle

Stephanoaetus coronatus

A large, boldly-marked, crested eagle with a long tail and broad wings, resembling a massive goshawk. The underparts of the adult are blotched and barred black-and-white; there is also a variable rufous wash across the breast. The pale immature has creamy-tan underwings. It is resident in thicker woodland and lowland, montane, and riverine forest, where it hunts monkeys and other small-to-medium-sized vertebrates. It has an undulating display flight coupled with a loud “wheee-yooo, wheee-yooo, wheee-yooo” call that often draws attention. Juvenile Crowned and Martial eagles are similar, but the Crowned has buffier underparts (and underwings), spotted flanks, and broader bars on the tail.

Crimson-bellied Woodpecker

Crimson-bellied Woodpecker

Campephilus haematogaster

Large woodpecker; scarce and local in larger patches of humid forest from Panama to Bolivia. Two subspecies; one found in foothills and subtropics on the east slope of Andes from southern Colombia to northern Bolivia, the other in lowlands and foothills on the west slope of Andes from Panama to Ecuador. Could be confused with several other Campephilus species, but look for rich reddish underparts with no barring, black back with no prominent white stripes, and buffy stripes on the face. Typically shier than other large woodpeckers and found in more mature forest. Occurs singly or in pairs, usually in the lower to middle levels of the forest.

Start Your Bird Watching Journey

Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.