| Spotted honeyeater | |
|---|---|
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| Illustration by Joseph Smit, 1884 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Meliphagidae |
| Genus: | Xanthotis |
| Species: | X. polygrammus |
| Binomial name | |
| Xanthotis polygrammus (G.R. Gray, 1862) [2] | |
| Synonyms | |
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The spotted honeyeater (Xanthotis polygrammus) is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae.
The Spotted Honeyeater was described by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1862. Its scientific name, Xanthotis polygrammus, is from Ancient Greek ξανθος xanthos (“yellow”) and πολυγραμμος polugrammos (“white-streaked”). [3]
Six subspecies recognized: [3]
This bird is a medium-small honeyeater [4] that measures around 15 to 17 cm. In the lophotis race, the males weigh between 19.7 to 23.5 g, and females weigh around 18-19.5 g. The bird has a "moderately long and slightly curved bill". The bird has a dark head and neck with white spots on the back of the neck. [3] It has a pink ring of facial skin around its eye. [4] The honeyeater’s back is dark with small white spots on it. Its stomach is white with a lime tint, and dark patterns and spots on it. The tail is a mix between brown and gray. The feathers under the wings are white. The bird has a white throat, black bill, and gray legs. The Males and females look the same, but males are a bit larger. [3] The facial skin around its eye and dark patterns along its body really help this bird be identifiable. [4]
It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
The diet of the spotted Honeyeater consists primarily of insects, worms, and other invertebrates which they forage in vegetation from the understory; but the Spotted Honeyeater also eats “nectar and fruit such as figs” that they find in the canopy and flowering plants. 97 Observations were recorded from a lowland forest; 49% of which observed that the bird’s foraging occurred in the understory; Majority of which is between ground level and two meters above. Other observations saw the birds forage in the upper canopy (37%). The observations showed the birds were forage less in the subcanopy (7%) and lower canopy (7%). The birds are usually seen foraging alone, and rarely in pairs or small groups. [3]
The Spotted Honeyeater is usually very quiet, but can be noisy in small groups. The whistles consist of two distinct sounds repeated many times, commonly described as “"wu-déé," and occasionally a “tup” in a descending pattern. [3]
The Spotted Honeyeater has been assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2018 listed as least concern. The species has a large range which makes it not possible to approach the thresholds to be listed for vulnerable. Although the population size has not been estimated, there are no signs of decrease and the population trend tends to be stable. [5]
The common sandpiper is a small Palearctic wader. This bird and its American sister species, the spotted sandpiper, make up the genus Actitis. They are parapatric and replace each other geographically; stray birds of either species may settle down with breeders of the other and hybridize. Hybridization has also been reported between the common sandpiper and the green sandpiper, a basal species of the closely related genus Tringa.
The Melanocharitidae, the berrypeckers and longbills, is a small bird family restricted to the forests of New Guinea. The family contains eleven species in four genera. They are small songbirds with generally dull plumage but a range of body shapes.
The white-plumed honeyeater is a small passerine bird endemic to Australia. White-plumed honeyeaters are common around water and are often seen in backyards and suburbs with vegetation cover.
The white-eared honeyeater is a medium-sized honeyeater found in Australia. It is a member of the family Meliphagidae which has 190 recognised species with about half of them found in Australia. This makes them members of the most diverse family of birds in Australia. White-eared honeyeaters are easily identifiable by their olive-green body, black head and white ear-patch.
The striped honeyeater is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae, found in Australia. It is a medium-sized honeyeater, about 23 cm (9.1 in) in length. Both sexes are a light greyish brown with dark brown centres to the feathers, which give the appearance of stripes. The stripes are particularly distinct on the head and back of the neck. While it is found mainly in inland eastern Australia where it inhabits the drier open forest, it is also found in coastal swamp forest from southeast Queensland to the central coast of New South Wales.
The spiny-cheeked honeyeater is the only species in the genus Acanthagenys. It is large for a honeyeater, ranging from 22 to 27 centimeters tall and weighing around 52 grams. The birds are sociable, aggressive, and often observed foraging in large flocks.
The Papuan mountain pigeon is a species of bird in the pigeon family, Columbidae. It is found in the Bacan Islands, New Guinea, the D'Entrecasteaux Islands, and the Bismarck Archipelago, where it inhabits primary forest, montane forest, and lowlands. It is a medium-sized species of pigeon, being 33–36 cm (13–14 in) long and weighing 259 g (9.1 oz) on average. Adult males have slate-grey upperparts, chestnut-maroon throats and bellies, whitish breasts, and a pale grey terminal tail band. The lores and orbital region are bright red. Females are similar, but have grayish breasts and grey edges to the throat feathers.
Mountain pigeons are four species of birds in the genus Gymnophaps in the pigeon family Columbidae. They are found on islands in eastern Indonesia and Melanesia, where they inhabit hill and montane forest. Medium-sized pigeons with long tails and wings, they are 33–38.5 cm (13.0–15.2 in) long and weigh 259–385 g (9.1–13.6 oz). They mostly have dull grey, white, or chestnut-brown plumage, their most distinctive feature being bright red skin around the eyes. Males and females mostly look alike, but the Papuan and pale mountain pigeons show slight sexual dimorphism. Mountain pigeons are very social and are usually seen in flocks of 10–40 birds, although some species can form flocks of more than 100 individuals. They are generally quiet and do not make many vocalisations apart from a distinctive whooshing noise while leaving their high-altitude roosts to feed in the morning.
The crescent honeyeater is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to southeastern Australia. A member of the genus Phylidonyris, it is most closely related to the common New Holland honeyeater and the white-cheeked honeyeater. Two subspecies are recognized, with P. p. halmaturinus restricted in range to Kangaroo Island and the Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia.
The long-bearded honeyeater, is a bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae.
The yellow-spotted honeyeater is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is also known as the lesser lewin. The bird is endemic to northern Queensland. The bird's common name refers to the yellow patch that members of the species have behind their eyes.
The red-headed myzomela or red-headed honeyeater is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. It was described by John Gould in 1840. Two subspecies are recognised, with the nominate race M. e. erythrocephala distributed around the tropical coastline of Australia, and M. e. infuscata in New Guinea. Though widely distributed, the species is not abundant within this range. While the IUCN lists the Australian population of M. e. infuscata as being near threatened, as a whole the widespread range means that its conservation is of least concern.
The white-rumped robin is a species of bird in the family Petroicidae. It is found in New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
The white-winged robin is a species of bird in the family Petroicidae.
The black-capped foliage-gleaner is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.
The ashy robin, also known as the black-cheeked robin, is a species of bird in the family Petroicidae native to New Guinea.
Gilbert's honeyeater, also known as the Swan River honeyeater or western white-naped honeyeater, is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to southwestern Australia. A mid-sized honeyeater, it is olive-green above and white below, with a black head, nape and throat and a white patch over the eye and a white crescent-shaped patch on the nape. The bill is brownish-black and the eyes a dull red. The sexes have similar plumage.
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