Dark-crowned Heleia

Heleia dohertyi

A distinctive small songbird with olive upperparts, a bright yellow underside, and a diagnostic head pattern: chocolate-brown head crest with indistinct white flecking, black mark between the bill and the eye, and white brow. Singles, pairs, or small groups frequently join mixed-species flocks in forests, edges, and cultivated areas in lowlands and lower hills. Restricted to the Lesser Sundas. Vocalizations include soft chattering calls, thin “tsip” notes, harsh “kit-up” calls, and a complex warbled song comprising whistled and whipping notes.

Taxonomy

Scientific name
Heleia dohertyi
Authority
(Hartert, EJO, 1896)
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Zosteropidae
Genus
Heleia

Range and habitat

Migration
Resident species

Conservation

Population trend
declining

Photos

Distribution

Bird Calls

Other Birds

Mimic Honeyeater

Mimic Honeyeater

Meliphaga analoga

A common, medium-sized honeyeater of all wooded habitats in the lowlands and foothills. Olive plumage, a little paler on the underparts with no mottling. Large and elongated, yellow ear spot. ID problematic as it co-occurs with many other similar species. Mountain and Graceful are smaller, Puff-backed has a thicker bill, Yellow-gaped has a more prominent yellow gape. Calls include a trill, a whistle and a “chup!”.

Dusky Sunbird

Dusky Sunbird

Cinnyris fuscus

A small sunbird. The male is dark overall, with a pale lower belly and orange tufts at the shoulder that are sometimes hidden. The female is plain gray-brown with a paler lower belly. Singles and pairs prefer arid scrub and savanna, feeding on insects and nectar. The species is nomadic and can irrupt in large numbers into areas where it is normally irregular, often on the fringes of its range. The female Dusky Sunbird has paler underparts than the similar female Southern Double-collared Sunbird.

Island Imperial-Pigeon

Island Imperial-Pigeon

Ducula pistrinaria

A large, long-necked pigeon, more uniformly gray than other imperial-pigeons in the region. Overall very pale, with a dark blue tail, a pinkish wash to throat and chest, and a gray back and wings. Birds in the Admiralty Islands have green wings and back. Relatively coastal, preferring smaller islands. Perches conspicuously in the open. Similar to Pacific Imperial-Pigeon, but overall paler. Birds on the Admiralty Islands differ from juvenile Red-knobbed Imperial-Pigeon in their gray, not cinnamon, belly and underside. Normally heard giving a high-pitched “ahu ahu ahu ahu” call, falling in pitch and volume.

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