Bacan Myzomela
Myzomela batjanensis
A small honeyeater with a short, downcurved bill. Striking male shows a scarlet head, back, and rump, a contrastingly dark tail and wings, and a whitish belly. Female and juvenile are entirely gray-brown, sometimes with a rusty-red wash on the face and throat. Females and immatures may be confused with Dusky Myzomela, but that species is larger, darker, and lacks red. Males on Obi have a reddish breast, and may represent a separate taxa. Found singly or in pairs at upper levels of montane and hill forest. Song is a short, high-pitched, and buzzy rising series, “bzze-bzee-bzee!-bzeee!-bzeet!” Also gives squeaky “bijee!” Formerly treated as a subspecies of Sulawesi Myzomela.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Myzomela batjanensis
- Authority
- Hartert, EJO, 1903
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Meliphagidae
- Genus
- Myzomela
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Lesser Nothura
Nothura minor
Sandy-colored tinamou that usually holds an upright posture. Has a brown crown and a heavily streaked back and throat. Occurs in grassland areas with scrub. The song is a series of metallic whistles: “peee peeeeee-peeep peeep peeep peeeeee.” The similar Spotted Nothura is larger and more rufescent and prefers areas with shorter grasses.
Caroline Islands White-eye
Zosterops semperi
A small bird, yellowish-olive above, buffy-olive below, with a bold white eye-ring, a yellow spot in front of the eye, and a thin black stripe from the bill under the eye. Found in forest and scrub. Voice includes squeaky chirps and high-pitched short whistles.
Eyebrowed Wren-Babbler
Napothera epilepidota
While furtive, this tiny skulker is distinctive if seen well. Short-tailed and large-headed in profile, somewhat like a vole or shrew. Brown with a pale throat, white eyebrow, and white speckling on the upper body. Both undersides and uppersides are streaked with white, though the prominence of this streaking depends on the lighting. Appearance varies slightly across range. Song, composed of a single airy monotone or slightly falling whistle repeated at 3- to 5-second intervals, is hauntingly ventriloquial. Found in tropical and subtropical evergreen forests with dense understoreys, from lowlands up into submontane areas.
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