Small nondescript honeyeater with almost straight moderately long and pointed bill. Nomiante race has head and neck greyish olive-brown, slightly paler on lores, check and ear-coverts, narrow, pale yellow eyering, pale yellowish chin and throat with olive mottling, upperbody dark olive, yellow tinge on rump and uppertail-coverts, upperwing olive-brown, fine pale olive edges and tips on coverts and remiges, uppertail dark olive-brown with fine and diffuse olive edges, underbody dull yellowish, undertail brownish grey, underwing yellowish with brownish-grey remiges, iris light blue-grey, bill grey-lack on upper mandible, paler horn-coloured on lower, gape pinkish-buff, legs blue-grey to dull grey. Sexes alike in plumage, male slightly larger than female. Juvenile is very like adult but duller, with slightly paler face, aple and inconspicuous eyering, pale yellow fleshy gape, and brown iris. Pallida like nominate but greyer, poliocephala has bill intermediate between nominate and claudi.
Not Threatened
Small nondescript honeyeater with almost straight moderately long and pointed bill. Nomiante race has head and neck greyish olive-brown, slightly paler on lores, check and ear-coverts, narrow, pale yellow eyering, pale yellowish chin and throat with olive mottling, upperbody dark olive, yellow tinge on rump and uppertail-coverts, upperwing olive-brown, fine pale olive edges and tips on coverts and remiges, uppertail dark olive-brown with fine and diffuse olive edges, underbody dull yellowish, undertail brownish grey, underwing yellowish with brownish-grey remiges, iris light blue-grey, bill grey-lack on upper mandible, paler horn-coloured on lower, gape pinkish-buff, legs blue-grey to dull grey. Sexes alike in plumage, male slightly larger than female. Juvenile is very like adult but duller, with slightly paler face, aple and inconspicuous eyering, pale yellow fleshy gape, and brown iris. Pallida like nominate but greyer, poliocephala has bill intermediate between nominate and claudi.
11-12.5 cm, male 7.5-18 g and female 8-12 g
Taxonomy: Glycichaera fallax Salvadori, 1878, Hall Sound, south-east New Guinea. Sometimes placed in genus Timeliopsis. Birds of this species on Salawati of unknown racial identity, provisionally included in pallida. Four subspecies recognized. (source: Handbook of the Birds of World)
Subspecies and Distribution:
- * pallida Stresemann & Paludan, 1932 - West Papuan Is (Waigeo, Batanta, Salawati). * poliocephala Salvadori, 1878 - Misool I (West Papuan Is), Aru Is and lowland NW New Guinea E to head of Geelvink Bay (lower Menoo R) and Onin Peninsula (Kapaur). * fallax Salvadori, 1878 - Yapen I (Geelvink Bay) and lowland New Guinea E of Geelvink Bay and Onin Peninsula to Milne Bay. * claudi (Mathews, 1914) - NE Queensland (E Cape York Peninsula S as far as Princess Charlotte Bay), in NE Australia.
Primary and secondary tropical rainforest and rainforest edge, gallery forest, semi-deciduous vine-thicket, and edges of rainforest bordering clearing and roads, monsoon forest. Considered commont in forest clearings and secondary growth. In lowlands and hills, mainly to 850 m, exceptionally to 1200 m, becoming less common with altitude.
Primarily insectivorous, also takes small fruits and seen to forage among eucalypt flowers, taking eather nectar or insect. Forages usually in canopy, particularly upper canopy, to 20 m above ground, less often in small trees and shrubs at 2-6 m, rarely within 1 m of ground.
Very poorly known. Nesting observed in Aug and Dec, juveniles in Jul and Oct, and birds in breeding conditions Jul, Oct and Dec. Probably breeds in dry season.