Red-headed Honeyeater

Red-headed Honeyeater
Male perched on a mangrove branch.
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Meliphagidae
Genus:	Myzomela
Species:	M. erythrocephala
Binomial name
Myzomela erythrocephala Gould, 1840

The Red-headed Honeyeater (Myzomela erythrocephala) is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae, found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Three subspecies are recognised, with the nominate race M. erythrocephala erythrocephala distributed around the tropical coastline of Australia.

At 12 centimetres (4.7 in), it is a small honeyeater with a short tail and relatively long down-curved bill. It is sexually dimorphic and the male has a glossy red head and brown upperparts and paler grey-brown underparts while the female has predominantly grey-brown plumage. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It is very active when feeding in the tree canopy, darting from flower to flower and sallying for insects. It calls constantly as it feeds. While little has been documented on the Red-headed Honeyeater’s breeding behaviour, it is recorded as building a small cup-shaped nest in the mangroves and laying two or three oval, white eggs with small red blotches.

The Red-headed Honeyeater is widely distributed across the northern coastlines of Australia, though it is not abundant within this range. While one sub-species is listed as Near Threatened, as a whole the widespread range means that its conservation is of Least Concern.

Taxonomy

Myzomela erythrocephala was first described by John Gould in 1840, from specimens located in King Sound, north Western Australia. As well as the nominate race M. erythrocephala erythrocephala, two additional subspecies are recognised: M. erythrocephala infuscata named by William Alexander Forbes in 1879, and M. erythrocephala dammermani described by Friederich Wilhelm Sieber in 1928.^[1] Some taxonomic authorities recognize M. erythrocephala dammermani as a separate species, the Sumba Myzomela (Myzomela dammermani).^[2]

It is a member of the genus Myzomela which includes two other Australian species, the Scarlet Honeyeater of eastern Australia, and the Dusky Honeyeater of northern Australia. It belongs to the honeyeater family Meliphagidae.^[3] A 2004 genetic study of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA of honeyeaters found it to be the next closest relative to a smaller group consisting of the Scarlet and Cardinal Honeyeaters, although only five of the thirty members of the genus Myzomela were analysed.^[4] Molecular analysis has shown honeyeaters to be related to the Pardalotidae (pardalotes), Acanthizidae (Australian warblers, scrubwrens, thornbills, etc.), and the Maluridae (Australian fairy-wrens) in a large Meliphagoidea superfamily.^[5] Because the Red-headed Honeyeater occurs on many offshore islands and appears to be an effective water-crosser, it has been hypothesised that north-western Australia was the primary centre of origin for the Myzomela erythrocephala subspecies.^[6]

The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek words myzo 'to suckle' and meli 'honey', and refers to the bird's nectivorous habits, while erythrocephala is from the Greek erythros ‘red’ and a combining form of the Greek kephale ‘head’.^[7] Other common names are Mangrove Red-headed Honeyeater, Red-headed Myzomela, Mangrove Redhead, and Blood Bird.^[8]

Description

Female perched on a paperbark branch

The Red-headed Honeyeater is a distinctive small honeyeater with a compact body, short tail and relatively long down-curved bill. It averages 12 centimetres (4.7 in), with a wingspan of 17–19 centimetres (6.7–7.5 in) and a weight of 8 grams (0.28 oz). The birds exhibit sexual dimorphism, with males being slightly larger and much more brightly coloured than the females.^[3]

The adult male has a dark red head, neck, lower back and rump; the red is glossy, reflecting bright light. The rest of the upper body is a blackish-brown, and the upper breast and under-body a light brownish-grey. The bill is black or blackish-brown, and there is a distinct black loral stripe that extends to become a narrow eye ring. The adult female's head and neck are grey-brown with a pink-red tint to the forehead and chin. The rest of the female's upper body is grey-brown with darker shades on the wings and lighter shades on the breast and under-body. One study suggested a connection between the female's bill colour and breeding status, with birds that had a horn-coloured bill also having well-developed brood patches.^[9] Juveniles are similar to females though with an obvious pale yellow edge to the lower mandible.^[3] It seems that males keep their juvenile plumage for up to three months, and take a similar period to come into full colour.^[9] The subspecies are similar in appearance to the nominate race however M. e. dammermani is slightly smaller than the other subspecies and has darker upper parts and a broad black pectoral band and M. e. infuscata has red extending from the rump onto the back.

The Red-headed Honeyeater has a range of contact calls and songs that are primarily metallic or scratchy.^[3] Its song is an abrupt 'tchwip-tchwip-tchwip-tchwip' with a slightly softer 'swip-swip-swip-swip' contact call and a scolding 'charrk-charrk'.^[10]

Distribution and habitat

A juvenile

The Red-headed Honeyeater in Australia is distributed across the tropical coastlines of Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland. It inhabits coastal areas of the Kimberley and various offshore islands in W.A., and is similarly distributed in the Northern Territory, including Melville Island and the Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands. It is widespread around the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria and Cape York Peninsula. M. e. dammermani is found on the island of Sumba in the eastern Indonesian Lesser Sunda Islands, and M. e. infuscata at scattered sites in West Papua and in south Papua New Guinea.^[3]

Although the Red-headed Honeyeater is widely distributed, it is not abundant within its range. The largest recorded population was 5.5 birds per hectare or 2.2 per acre at Palmerston in the Northern Territory. The peak abundance of the species in the mangroves around Darwin Harbour during the mid dry and early wet season coincided with the production of young and the flowering of Ceriops australis.^[11]

The species' movements are poorly understood, with them variously described as resident, nomadic or migratory.^[3] Population numbers have been reported as fluctuating in some areas with local movements possibly related to the flowering of preferred mangrove and Melaleuca food trees, and there is some indication that the birds can travel more widely.^[11] A single bird was recaptured after being banded nearly five years earlier, 27 kilometres (17 mi) from the original banding site, and the species' occupation of a large number of offshore islands suggests that the Red-Headed Honeyeater is effective at crossing distances over water.^[9]

The Red-headed Honeyeater mostly inhabits mangroves in monsoonal coastal areas, especially thickets of Rhizophora, Bruguiera and Avicennia bordering islands or in river deltas, but it often also occurs in paperbark thickets fringing the mangroves such as those of the Cadjeput (Melaleuca leucadendra).^[3] It is a mangrove specialist, an adaptation that probably occurred as northern Australia became more arid and the bird populations became dependent on mangroves as other types of forest disappeared.^[6] The mangroves provide nectar and insects as well as shelter and nesting sites, and they supply the majority of the species' needs for most of the year.^[3]

In Australia, mangrove vegetation forms a narrow discontinuous strip along thousands of kilometres of coastline, accommodating birds specialized for the habitat.^[6] Eighty Mile Beach in Western Australia has no mangroves and no fringing Melaleuca forests, reducing its potential for successful colonization by nectarivores, and it marks the southern limit of the Red-headed Honeyeater in W.A.^[11]

Behaviour

A male on lookout

Feeding

The Red-headed Honeyeater is arboreal, feeding at flowers and among the outer foliage in the crowns of mangroves and other flowering trees.^[10] It is very active when feeding, darting from flower to flower and sallying for insects. It probes flowers for nectar with its long curved bill, catches insects on the wing and gleans insects from leaves.^[3] It predominately feeds on mangrove species, and in northwestern Australia is the major pollinator of Bruguiera exaristata,^[12] however it also feeds in paperbarks and other coastal forests and has been recorded feeding in cultivated Bottlebrush and Grevillea in Darwin gardens.^[9]

Social behaviour

While the social organisation of the Red-headed Honeyeater is relatively unknown, it is reported as being usually solitary or found in pairs, though it has been described as forming loose associations with Brown Honeyeaters, and other mangrove-feeding birds such as the Northern Fantail and Yellow White-Eye.^[11] It is an inquisitive bird, and readily responds to pishing coming close to the caller to investigate the source of the sound and to warn off the intruder. It calls throughout the day when feeding, and males sing from exposed branches in the upper canopy of the food trees.^[3]

The Red-headed Honeyeater actively defends food trees, engaging in aggressive bill-wiping both in response to a threat and after chasing intruders from a tree. It is very antagonistic even towards its own species; the males fight by grappling in mid-air and falling close to the ground before disengaging. It constantly chases Brown Honeyeaters through the canopy, though it has not been observed in grappling fights with other species.^[3]

Breeding

There are few scientific reports on the breeding behaviour of the Red-headed Honeyeater, and little detail is available on the breeding season.^[3] A study of populations in the west Kimberley reported that the birds hold territories through much of the dry season and then disperse.^[11] The nest is built in the foliage of the mangroves, suspended by a rim from a small horizontal fork about 6–10 metres (20–33 ft) above the ground or water.^[3] The nest is small and cup-shaped, and built from small pieces of bark, leaves, plant fibre and sometimes seaweed, bound together with spider web and lined with finer material. It is, on average, 5.4 centimetres (2.1 in) in diameter and 3.7 centimetres (1.5 in) deep.^[3]

Measuring 16 by 12 millimetres (0.63 by 0.47 in), the eggs are oval, smooth and lustreless white, with small spots or blotches of red on the larger end. Clutch size is reported to be two to three eggs.^[13] While there is no reliable information on incubation and feeding, it is believed that both parents are active in caring for the young.^[3]

Conservation status

M. e. erythrocephala is listed as being of Least Concern,^[14] because the population is widespread, however Myzomela erythrocephala infuscata is listed as Near Threatened. The Australian population of this subspecies is confined to three small islands with a combined area of about 100 square kilometres (39 sq mi).^[15] There is no immediate threat to the Red-headed Honeyeater except the risk posed to low islands by rising sea levels,^[15] however it has been recommended that community-based ecotourism on the tropical coast be promoted, as it could lead to monitoring of sub-populations and habitat by visiting birdwatchers and local rangers.^[15]

References

1. ^ "Myzomela erythrocephala". Encyclopedia of Life. http://www.eol.org/pages/918553. Retrieved 25 Aug 2011. 
2. ^ Lepage, Denis (2011). "Sumba Myzomela (Myzomela dammermani) Siebers, 1928". Avibase: The World Bird Database. Bird Studies Canada. http://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?lang=EN&avibaseid=05676767E975DBC9&sec=summary&ssver=1. Retrieved 3 September 2011. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o} Higgins, P.J.; Peter, J.M. and Steele, W.K. (2001). Tyrant-flycatchers to Chats.. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds. Volume 5. Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-553071-3. 
4. ^ Driskell, Amy C.; Christidis, Les (2004). "Phylogeny and evolution of the Australo-Papuan honeyeaters (Passeriformes, Meliphagidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 31 (3): 943–60. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2003.10.017. PMID 15120392. 
5. ^ Barker, F. Keith; Cibois, Alice; Schikler, Peter; Feinstein, Julie; Cracraft, Joel (2004). "Phylogeny and diversification of the largest avian radiation" (PDF). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 101 (30): 11040–45. doi:10.1073/pnas.0401892101. PMC 503738. PMID 15263073. http://www.tc.umn.edu/~barke042/pdfs/Barker.et.al04.pdf. Retrieved August 3, 2010. 
6. ^ ^{a b c} Ford, Julian (1982). "Origin, Evolution and Speciation of Birds Specialized to Mangroves in Australia". Emu (Melbourne, Australia: CSIRO) 82: 12–23. doi:10.1071/MU9820012. 
7. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1980) [1871]. A Greek-English Lexicon (Abridged Edition). Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. pp. 272, 374. ISBN 0-19-910207-4. 
8. ^ Lepage, Denis (2011). "Red-headed Myzomela (Myzomela erythrocephala) Gould, 1840". Avibase: The World Bird Database. Bird Studies Canada. http://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?lang=EN&avibaseid=CEE16E7084210273. Retrieved 3 September 2011. 
9. ^ ^{a b c d} Lewis, Jan. "Notes on the Moult and Biology of the Red-headed Honeyeater (Myzomela erythrocephala) in the west Kimberley, Western Australia". Amytornis: Western Australian Journal of Ornithology (Western Australia: Birds Australia) 2: 15–24. ISSN 1832-3482. 
10. ^ ^{a b} Morcombe, Michael (2003). Field Guide to Australian Birds. Archerfield, Qld: Steve Parrish Publishing. p. 272. ISBN 174021417X. 
11. ^ ^{a b c d e} Noske, Richard A.. "Abundance, Zonation and Foraging Ecology of Birds in Mangroves of Darwin Harbour, Northern Territory". Wildlife Research (Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing) 23: 443–74. doi:10.1071/WR9960443. ISSN 1035-3712. 
12. ^ Noske, Richard A. (December 1993). "Bruguiera hainesii: Another Bird-Pollinated Mangrove?". Biotropica (The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation) 25 (4): 481–483. JSTOR 2388873. 
13. ^ Beruldsen, Gordon R. (2003) [1980]. A Field Guide to Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds. Kenmore Hills, Qld: self. p. 329. ISBN 0-646-42798-9. 
14. ^ "Myzomela erythrocephala". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/146122/0. Retrieved 27 August 2011. 
15. ^ ^{a b c} Garnett, Stephen; Szabo, Judith; Dutson, Guy (2010), The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010, Melbourne, Australia: CSIRO, ISBN 9780643103689