Guadalcanal Honeyeater
Guadalcanaria inexpectata
A medium-sized honeyeater, mostly dark bluish-gray with olive tones to the upperparts. Bill relatively short and slightly decurved. Bright yellow neck tuft distinctive. Prefers primary montane forest above 950 meters of elevation, more commonly above 1450 meters of elevation. Vocally little known, but said to give a loud, musical “per-twee, per-twee.”
Identification
The male and female of the species look the same but females tend to be smaller.<p>The upper parts of the adult are slate grey with a brownish tinge on the rump and upper tail coverts. The throat and neck are greyish white. The breast and abdomen are dark grey, and the vent and undertail coverts are brownish grey with indistinct striation.<p>The ear coverts are a glossy slate grey. On the side of the neck is a tuft of pointed golden-yellow feathers about 2 cm long.<p>The bill is black and the iris brown.<p>Immature birds appear similar to the adults but are smaller and less distinctly striated underneath. The tufts on the side of the neck are a paler yellow.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Guadalcanaria inexpectata
- Authority
- Hartert, EJO, 1929
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Meliphagidae
- Genus
- Guadalcanaria
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
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Tuamotu Kingfisher
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Long-billed Crombec
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A tiny, rotund, virtually tailless warbler with buff-orange underparts, gray-brown upperparts, and a dark eye-stripe that forms a buffy eyebrow. Pairs often join mixed-species flocks actively hopping along branches, occasionally hanging like mini-nuthatches, searching for invertebrates, and occasionally eating plant matter. Occupies broadleaf woodland, savanna, and arid scrub, where it is often detected by its quiet but distinctive faltering “chree-chirrit, chree-chirrit, chree-chirrit” song. The Red-capped Crombec has paler light gray upperparts and lacks the Cape Crombec’s eye-stripe, giving it a more open tawny face.
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