Alternative name: Thick-billed Berrypecker
- Rhamphocharis crassirostris
Melanocharis crassirostris
Identification
11-14cm. A distinctive Berrypecker with a long, stout bill and a narrow squared-off tail.
Male
- Olive-green with greenish gloss above, darker on crown
- Blackish uppertail-coverts and tail
- Pale grey below, slightly washed yellow on flanks
- White or yellowish-white pectoral tufts and underwing-coverts
Female
- Dark brownish-black head and body
- White spots on body particularly on breast and throat
- Some individuals with a white wingbar, formed of white spots
- Olive-yellow remiges
Immatures are similar to females but lack the spots on the upperparts.
Similar species
Females are similar to Spotted Honeyeater but they lack the yellow ear patch and the black markings on the underparts.
Distribution
New Guinea (countries of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea).
Uncommon to rather rare and poorly known.
Taxonomy
Placed in genus Rhamphocharis by some authorities[2][3] and in Melanocharis by others[1].
Subspecies
Three subspecies recognized:[1]
- R. c. crassirostris
- New Guinea (Mountains of Vogelkop Peninsula and Central Highlands)
- R. c. piperata
- Mountains of south-eastern New Guinea
- R. c. viridescens
- South-eastern New Guinea (Herzog Mountains)
Habitat
Moist montanes, secondary growth and in native gardens. Occurs mainly at 1150 - 2300m.
Behaviour
Diet poorly known. Feeds on berries and small fruits. Takes also arthropods.
Behaviour similar to that of a Honeyeater.
Usually seen singly, sometimes in small flocks in fruiting trees.
Breeding very poorly known. Juveniles recorded in September.
Presumably a resident species with some food related movements.
References
- Clements, JF. 2011. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to August 2011. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
- Dickinson, EC, ed. 2003. The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. 3rd ed., with updates to December 2007 (Corrigenda 7). Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691117010
- Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2010. IOC World Bird Names (version 2.7). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2008. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 13: Penduline-tits to Shrikes. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553453
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Spotted Berrypecker. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 26 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Spotted_Berrypecker
