Tawny-breasted Honeyeater
Other common names: Tawny-breasted/Brown Xanthotis, Buff-breasted/Streaked/Streak-naped/Honeybreasted/ Rufous-breasted/Brown(!) Honeyeater
Taxonomy: Myzantha flaviventer Lesson, 1828, Dorey = Manokwari, Vogelkop Peninsula, New Guinea.
Rather grab honeyeater with long, fairly hefty and slightly curved bill. Nominate race is dark brown with strong olive-green tinge on top of head, neck and upperbody, with obscure fine pale-grey spotting on nape and hindneck, lores, malar area and narrow line of feather around eye olive-brown paler than top of head, divided by bold whitish stripe of bare skin extending from gape below eye and tapering behind eye
Not Threatened
Rather grab honeyeater with long, fairly hefty and slightly curved bill. Nominate race is dark brown with strong olive-green tinge on top of head, neck and upperbody, with obscure fine pale-grey spotting on nape and hindneck, lores, malar area and narrow line of feather around eye olive-brown paler than top of head, divided by bold whitish stripe of bare skin extending from gape below eye and tapering behind eye to narrow streak over upper ear-coverts, ear-coverts, side of neck, chin and throat paler, small yellow plumage bordering rear edge of
ear-coverts, uppertail and upperwing dark olive-brown, fine olive edges on rectrices, fine buff edges on remiges, fine buff flecks at tips of lesser and median secondary coverts and fine buff on greater coverts, breast rufous-buff, washed with olive-yellow, grading to more rufous-brown on lower underbody, undertail dark grey, underwing rich buff with dark grey trailing edge and tip, iris black-brown to brown or red-brown, blue-grey orbital ring, bill black, legs light blue-grey to grey. Sexes alike in plumage, male slightly larger than female. Juvenile is like adult, but separable by having yellow auricular plume smaller and less obvious, rump and uppertail-coverts diffusely washed buff, fine buff of tail, but fringes and tips of secondary coverts slightly broader and bolder, ongest feather of alula thinly fringed buff, edges of remiges richer buff, and underbody duller. Races differ mainly in ground colour and patterning of head, neck and body.
VOICE: Main call a series of rather loud single whistles, rising an falling in pitch and loudness in E NG consist of a phrase of usually 3 note “whit-wut-wu” or “whipto-whee”, repeated 3-10 or more times, some variation in calls, with one to all notes in phrase disyllabic, or phrase sometimes incomplete, also some apparent geographical variation in phrases and spped of delivery. Contact call “tiptip-tip-tip-tip” given in flight or during foraging in mixed-species flock.
18 - 21 cm, male 33-41 g and female 26.5-37 g (filiger), male 47-50 g and female 38-44.5 (nominate), male
46.5-54 g and one female 40.5 g (philemon)
Taxonomy: Myzantha flaviventer Lesson, 1828, Dorey = Manokwari, Vogelkop Peninsula, New Guinea.
Genus formerly subsumed in Meliphaga by some authors. Species sometimes referred to by name of X. chrysotis; was originally described under name Philedon chrysotis, but this invalid, as preoccupied, and species subsequently renamed. Taxonomy not fully understood, and number of races recognized varies from fewer than ten to 14; validity of those listed below requires confirmation. Races intergrade where they meet, and several proposed races appear to be from zones of intergradation: rubiensis (described from Rubi, at head of Geelvink Bay) is probably an intergrade between nominate and saturatior; giulianettii (Avera, on Aroa R, in SE New Guinea) is between saturatior and visi; and kumusii (Kumusi R, on N coast of SE New Guinea) is considered an intergrade between visi and madaraszi. Further, described race tararae (Tarara, Wassi Kussa R, c. 140km W of Daru, in S Trans-Fly) is synonymized with saturatior, and austera (Tamulol, on Misool I) with nominate. On basis of plumage characters, races fall into five groups: greenish nominate and fusciventris; plain dusky grey meyeri, philemon and madaraszi; rufescent visi; white-faced and ventrally spotted spilogaster; and bare-faced and fawn-breasted filiger and saturatior. Nine subspecies tentatively recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- fusciventris Salvadori, 1876 - Waigeo and Batanta, in West Papuan Is.
- flaviventer (Lesson, 1828) - Salawati and Misool (West Papuan Is), and NW New Guinea Vogelkop.
- meyeri Salvadori, 1876 - Yapen I, in Geelvink Bay (NW New Guinea).
- philemon Stresemann, 1921 - N New Guinea from Mamberamo R E to Huon Peninsula.
- madaraszi (Rothschild & E. J. O. Hartert, 1903) - NE New Guinea (E from Astrolabe Bay to Huon Peninsula and Markham Valley, S to Wau).
- saturatior (Rothschild & E. J. O. Hartert, 1903) - Aru Is, S New Guinea (from Mimika R E to Fly R and Gulf of Papua), and islands in N Torres Strait (including Saibai, Boigu and Daru).
- visi (E. J. O. Hartert, 1896) - S & SE New Guinea E from Huon Gulf and Gulf of Papua to about Milne Bay.
- spilogaster (Ogilvie-Grant, 1896) - Trobriand Is and D’Entrecasteaux Archipelago (including Goodenough, Fergusson and Normanby), off SE New Guinea.
- filiger (Gould, 1851) - NE Queensland (Cape York Peninsula S to about Edward R in W and to McIlwraith Range-Rocky R-Silver Plains Station in E), in NE Australia.
Mainly dense lowland rainforest, forest edges, remnant forest patches, and secondary rainforest or monsoon forest. Also svana and swamp forest. Sea level to c 1500 m.
Mainly insect, including beetles, grasshoppers, cockroaches, cicadas and caterpillars, also nectar and fruit. Forages at all levels, mostly in upper canopy, less often in lower canopy and middle stages, only occasionally lower, including on ground. Usually singly, less often in twos or occasionally, in small parties of up to eight individual, some of which family parties of adults and young.
Appears to nest in late dry season to early wet season, and at end of wet season, with breeding noted Aug-Feb and Apr-May. Clutch 2 eggs, incubating probably by female.