Sooty Honeyeater
Other common names: Sooty Melidectes
Taxonomy: Acanthochoera fusca De Vis, 1897, Mount Scratchley, Wharton Range, south-east New Guinea.
Male nominate race is wholly dark brownish-black above, slightly browner on wings and tail, feathers of upperbody fainly tipped paler, grayish, giving faint mottled or scaled effect, small pale blue eye wattle, extending narrowly in front of and behind eye and dropping below eye, small spot of red to orange-red bare skin behind wattle at rear of eye,
Male nominate race is wholly dark brownish-black above, slightly browner on wings and tail, feathers of upperbody fainly tipped paler, grayish, giving faint mottled or scaled effect, small pale blue eye wattle, extending narrowly in front of and behind eye and dropping below eye, small spot of red to orange-red bare skin behind wattle at rear of eye, outer webs of remiges faintly tinged dark red-brown, black-brown to dark brown below, slightly paler than upperparts, paler brown on vent and undertail coverts, fine pale brown to brownish-grey speckling or fine streaking n chin and throat merging into pale brown crescend-shaped scaling on underparts, some feathers of breast and belly faintly tinged rufous-brown in centre, undertail brown, black, with paler, light grey-brown tips on outer feathers, shafts of remiges and rectrices dark red brown, iris dark, bill black, legs blue-grey. Female is likely male but smaller, suggesting that female has slightly greyer tinge on belly and smaller wattle requires confirmation. Juvenile is duller than adult, brownish black, with little or no pale tipping on feathers on upperparts, underbody more mottled and less scaled, mottling greyer, undertial-coverts richer brown, bill probably shorter and gape yellow at first, eye wattle and skin behind eye both pale yellow, legs bluish-pink. Race occidentalis is very like nominate but smaller.
Call a pair of rather soft, upslur soft, upslurred notes, “schweep-schweep”. Two song types described, one a long monotonous repetition of high-pitched 2- note phase, second note trilled or slurre and lower than first, at rate of 90 phases per minute for up to a minute or more , second type a sweet, airy high-pitched series of whistles gradually dropping in pitch and then continuing on single pitch “see-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee. Independent fledgling continually uttered “pyeep” note.
21-25.4 cm, 25-42.9 g
Study of relationships within genus needed. Present species sometimes placed with M. nouhuysi and M. princeps in a separate genus, Melionyx; all three, along with M. whitemanensis, comprise a group of medium-sized species that differ from others in genus in size, morphology, plumage and voice. Birds in Eastern Highlands proposed as a separate race, gilliardi (described from Mt Wilhelm, in Bismarck Range), but intermediate geographically and morphologically between occidentalis and nominate, and synonymized with latter. Two subspecies recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- occidentalis Junge, 1939 - Central Ranges of New Guinea, from Snow Mts (Nassau Range and Oranje Mts) E to Eastern Highlands (Mt Hagen, Mt Wilhelm, and Mt Giluwe and Kubor Range).
- fuscus (De Vis, 1897) - mountains of SE New Guinea E from Eastern Highlands.
Primar upper montane forest and high mountain forest, forest edge, secondary growth, and alpine shrubland and shrub thickets within or at edge of grassland, recorded in dense secondary growth at edge of moss forest damaged by fire. In dense secondary growth in clearing in mossy beech forest at low altitude. From 2200 m to tree-line at c 3720 m, mainly in alpine zone above 3000 m, exceptionally down to 1700 m.
Diet includes arthropods, nectar, pollen and fruit. Forages at all levels, from crown to understorey, often sen in shrubs and low trees in clearings in forest and alpine shrubs. Gleans arthropods from foliage and twigs, probes flowers , seen to probe for pollen in mature male cones in crowns. Almost always singly, occasionally in twos.
Nest with eggs in Oct, nestling in early Oct, early Nov and may, nest reported also in Par and Jun, and dependent fledglings in Jul. possibly bimodal, breeding at end of wet season and start of dry season and also in late dry season. Nest a bulky deep, thick walled cup. One made of moss and some fine grass and lined with dark feathers, another of fine rootlets and covered externally with moss.