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
Guadalcanal Hooded Whistler
Pachycephala implicata
A distinctive whistler of dark, dingy appearance. Body color is a dank mossy olive, with a slate-gray throat and a black cap. Hood often appears one-colored in forest light. Female is golden below and olive above with a gray head and a white throat. Mainly found in primary forest above 1100 meters of elevation, but does wander lower. Occurs together with Oriole Whistler, but differs in the male’s lack of a bright golden throat, neck, and belly and the female’s olive back and unstreaked underparts. Voice includes a sequence of loud, almost electronic staccato whistles.
Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler
Horornis fortipes
Small brown warbler of middle elevations, usually retiring and seldom venturing far from the bushes and short trees from which it gives its distinctive song. Rich, dark brown above and paler gray-brown below, with tawny-brown flanks and pale supercilium. Song a resonant, long whistle followed by a short burst of sharp, bright notes, similar to songs of much larger Manchurian and Japanese Bush Warblers but the whistle is much longer and the following notes not as soft and mellow. Endemic Taiwan subspecies (robustipes) sometimes considered species, called Strong-footed Bush Warbler.
White-winged Lark
Alauda leucoptera
Handsome lark with flashing white wing patches. Note streaky gray-brown back, white underparts, and warm rufous shoulder; male also has distinct red cap and ear coverts. Forages in large flocks outside of the breeding season. Favors wide expansive dry steppelands and fields; occasionally encountered in agricultural areas. Song is a jumble of trills, chirps, harsh rasps, and twittering notes.
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