Has crown, side of head and upperparts brown, narrowhitish eyering; upperwing blackish, pale edgings on secondaries; tail blackish, conspicuous white subterminal spots on outer feathers; throat and underparts white, variable rusty-buff or buffy-brown wash on side of breast, often forming diffuse band across breast; iris red-brown to dark brown; bill and legs black. Readily distinguished from G. cinerea by brownish coloration. Sexes alike. Juvenile has back dark brown with olive tinge, becoming dingy on head, pale yellow underparts, paler on belly. Races differ only in minor details of coloration.
Not Threatened
Has crown, side of head and upperparts brown, narrowhitish eyering; upperwing blackish, pale edgings on secondaries; tail blackish, conspicuous white subterminal spots on outer feathers; throat and underparts white, variable rusty-buff or buffy-brown wash on side of breast, often forming diffuse band across breast; iris red-brown to dark brown; bill and legs black. Readily distinguished from G. cinerea by brownish coloration. Sexes alike. Juvenile has back dark brown with olive tinge, becoming dingy on head, pale yellow underparts, paler on belly. Races differ only in minor details of coloration.
9 – 10 cm
Taxonomy: Gerygone? ruficollis Salvadori, 1876, Hatam, Arfak Mountains, Vogelkop, New Guinea. Two subspecies recognized. (source: Handbook of the Birds of World)
Subspecies and Distribution:
- * ruficollis Salvadori, 1876 - NW New Guinea (Arfak Mts). * insperata De Vis, 1892 - C mountain ranges of New Guinea E to Owen Stanley Range, including Huon Peninsula.
Primary forest, forest edges, gardens, secondary growth, casuarnas (Casuarina) in cultivated areasm, towns and villages, also tree-ferns in subalpine grasslands. From 1100 m upwards, to c. 3300 m in Snow Mts and SE New Guinea; commonest at lower and middle levels.
Insectivorous, but no details available. Forages singly, in pairs or in small family groups. Feeds actively, mostly at middle levels, but will ascend to canopy of tall trees, also sometimes quite low down; particularly favours casuarinas. Gleans from leaves, also uses hovering and sallying techniques. Joins mixed-species flocks with Western Mountain White-eyes (Zosterops fuscicapillus).
Poorly known. Recorded in both wet and dry seasons; nest seen in Oct, nest-building in Dec, food-carrying adults in Jan, and juveniles seen in Jun and Aug. Sings during nest-building; one nest was a pendent globular structure with side entrance, decorated with lichens, suspected at 2.1 m from slender tree by garden clearing. No other information.