Cryptic Honeyeater
Meliphaga imitatrix
A small olive-gray honeyeater with a circular pale yellow cheek patch and a relatively fine bill. Can be confused with Lewin’s Honeyeater and Yellow-spotted Honeyeater, but note the shape of the cheek patch: crescent-shaped on Lewin’s Honeyeater and oval on Yellow-spotted Honeyeater. Adults also have a blue-gray eye while Lewin’s has a bluish eye and Yellow-spotted has a brown eye. Voice is a key ID feature—often a single short note rather than the loud repeated whistle of Yellow-spotted or the rapid staccato machine-gun call of Lewin’s. One of three easily confusable species found in far northern Queensland. Common in many wetter lowland habitats in wetter parts of northern Queensland. Formerly considered conspecific with Graceful Honeyeater, but no overlap in range.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Meliphaga imitatrix
- Authority
- (Mathews, 1912)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Meliphagidae
- Genus
- Meliphaga
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Reed Cormorant
Microcarbo africanus
A small, speckle-backed cormorant that is common and widespread in fresh water. The adult is blackish with a short black crest above the bill. Immatures are brownish with paler underparts. Although they share the same habitat with Great Cormorant, Long-tailed Cormorants can be separated by their much smaller size, red eyes, and proportionately longer tails. Generally, Long-tailed Cormorant avoids the marine habitats of the similar-looking Crowned Cormorant, which has a larger crest, an unspeckled back, and a shorter tail.
Pale-billed Hornero
Furnarius torridus
Chunky, chestnut-colored bird found only near large rivers in the western part of the Amazon basin. Plumage is chestnut-brown with pale eyebrow, throat, and belly. Separated from Pale-legged Hornero by darker breast, face, and crown; from Lesser Hornero by larger size, darker breast, and pale (not dark) legs. Inhabits understory of densely wooded and seasonally flooded forest along rivers and on river islands. Song is a descending whinny.
Tahiti Monarch
Pomarea nigra
A distinctive large glossy-black flycatcher with a pale bluish-ivory bill. Female has a cinnamon head, a buffy chest, white underparts and brown upperparts. Dependent on native moist forest between 80 and 400 meters of elevation. Song is strong, loud, complex, and melodious, with a repeated “wip-woorly” phrase.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.