Not Threatened
Small bird with entirely scarlet plumage, with exception of dark undertail and wing coverts. Male nominate race appears almost entirely bright, glossy crimson, brighest on rump and uppertail-coverts, duller on back, uppertail dark brown with strong crimson suffusion, crimson edges of rectrices, upperwing dark brown, coverts with broad crimson tips and fringes, tertials with strong crimson suffusion, remaining remiges with crimson outer edges, undertail brown, underwing light grey0brown, coverts paler and mottled off-white, some idndividuals have faint crimson-brown mottling above and below, but not certain whether this an immature character or the result of wear, iris rufous-brown to blackish-brown, bill lack to brownish black, gape yellos, legs dusly grey to balkish-brown. Female is smaller than male, drab brown to olive-brown, slightly paler and greyer belowe, especially in middle of belly and vent, with diffuse red wash of forehead. Juvenile is very similar to female, but wing shorte and gape swollen, immature male like adult male like adult female, but red washmore extensive.
11-13 cm
Taxonomy: Myzomela obscura Gould, 1843, Port Essington, Northern Territory, Australia. Forms a superspecies with M. blasii, M. albigula, M. eques and M. cineracea. Races fall into two groups, nominate, harterti, fumata, rubrobrunnea and aruensis comprising “nominate group” and other three the “simplex group”. Birds on Pulu Adi (SW New Guinea) of uncertain racial identity; provisionally included in fumata. Proposed race munna from NE Australia (Cape York, in N Queensland) is synonymized with harterti. Eight subspecies recognized. (source: Handbook of the Birds of World)
Subspecies and Distribution:
- * mortyana E. J. O. Hartert, 1903 - Morotai, off N Halmahera. * simplex G. R. Gray, 1861 - Halmahera, Ternate, Tidore, Kasiruta, Bacan and Damar (N Moluccas). * rubrotincta Salvadori, 1878 - Obi and Bisa, in N Moluccas. * fumata (Bonaparte, 1850) - New Guinea from S Vogelkop (S from Sorong) E along S coast, including Pulu Adi (off Triton Bay), to Trans-Fly and Milne Bay and, in SE, on N coast E from near Popondetta; also islands of N Torres Strait (probably Boigu and Sabai). * rubrobrunnea A. B. Meyer, 1874 - Biak I, in Geelvink Bay (NW New Guinea). * aruensis Kinnear, 1924 - Aru Is. * harterti Mathews, 1911 - islands of C & S Torres Strait, and NE Australia (coastal and subcoastal Queensland from Cape York Peninsula S to Moreton Bay). * obscura Gould, 1843 - Tiwi Is (Bathurst I, Melville I) and N Northern Territory (Arnhem Land), in N Australia.
Nectar and small arthropods