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Meliphagidae
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Melipotes
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- Foja Honeyeater
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Foja Honeyeater Melipotes carolae Scientific name definitions

Peter J. Higgins, Les Christidis, and Hugh Ford
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2008

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

c. 22 cm; one male 52·5 g, one female 54 g, unsexed and sexes combined 52·5–65 g. Plumage appears largely sooty black at distance, with paler lower underbody. Forehead, crown and nape are black, merging over hindneck to dark grey-black on side of neck and upperbody; side of head largely covered by extensive circumorbital patch of bright red-orange skin with large, loose and fleshy pendent wattle on lower edge at base of bill (facial patch appears not to change colour with bird's mood, but sometimes shows hint of darker mottling, is also much redder than those of congeners); upperwing slightly duller than upperparts, largely black-brown, with (when fresh) very fine paler greyish outer edges and tips on median and greater coverts and tertials and pale greyish or olive-greyish outer edges on rest of remiges (outer edges of remiges fade with wear); uppertail grey-black with fine paler outer edges; chin and upper throat dark grey, slightly paler than rest of underbody, which mostly dark blue-grey, with light grey scaling or mottling across breast and upper belly and much broader pale fringing on lower belly, vent and flanks (which appear light grey with some darker blue-grey mottling); undertail-coverts light brown-grey; undertail light brownish-grey; iris dark brown to red-brown; bill and legs black. Sexes alike in plumage, male larger than female. Juvenile undescribed.

Systematics History

Closely related to M. fumigatus (1), but differs in the large pendent wattle on its facial skin (3); red-orange vs orange-yellow colour of bare facial skin and wattle (2); dark grey vs mid-grey throat (2); moreover, the colour of the facial skin and wattle does not flush, unlike in other Melipotes. See also M. gymnops. Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

Foja Mts, in NW New Guinea.

Habitat

Interior and edge of closed, humid tropical submontane forest. Type locality a sphagnum bog c. 500 m in diameter surrounded by mossy forest of moderate stature (20–25 m) dominated by gymnosperms (e.g. Dacrydium, Dacrycarpus) and montane angiosperms (e.g. Nothofagus, Lithocarpus). Known only from above 1150 m.

Movement

No information; probably sedentary.

Diet and Foraging

Predominantly frugivorous; seen repeatedly to forage in middle and upper levels of vegetation, especially at plants producing small fruits. Not wary.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

No information; not heard to vocalize during 15 observations from late Nov to early Dec.

Breeding

No evidence of reproductive behaviour during late Nov and early Dec, when two individuals had non-enlarged gonads. In Oct 1979 or Jan–Feb 1981, a Melipotes nest found in Foja Mts was described as a bundle of debris 20 cm in diameter and woven around trunk of sapling at height of 9 m; was attributed to M. fumigatus,but present species seems to be only member of genus in Foja Mts.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not assessed. Appears not to be globally threatened. Although not yet listed, this is a restricted-range species, confined to North Papuan Mountains EBA. First observed in Nov 2005, and formally described as recently as 2007. Common within tiny known global range. Habitats of this species apparently not at risk: entire Foja Mts massif is apparently without roads, with few or no trails, and no villages except on lowland fringes; further, local people do not enter the uplands, partly because they are not easily accessible but also because the summits are considered sacred.
Distribution of the Foja Honeyeater - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Foja Honeyeater

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Higgins, P. J., L. Christidis, and H. Ford (2020). Foja Honeyeater (Melipotes carolae), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.washon1.01
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