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A Gerygone
mehdhalaouate

A Gerygone

I need some help with the ID of this one, I know for sure that manyof you have the answer.
Thanks.
Location
West Biak
Date taken
03-2005
Opus Editor
Hi Mehd,
I would go for a Gerygone (note the spelling), though I'm not sure which one...Yellow-bellied?
 
Thanks, Tom!
I have edited it now. Ididn't notice the spelling mistake at first ;) Mehd is soon going to Java, with faster internet connection. I'm sure he'll send you some pictures then.
 
Yeah, I think of a Gerygone as well, but would be guessing which one. The possibles are, I think, Large-billed Gerygone, race hypoxantha; Fairy Gerygone, race palpebrosa; and Tom's candidate, Yellow-bellied Gerygone, race leucothorax. I'll plop down ten cents on red, but I'm also covering black, and say just looking at the very stout bill that it might be the Large-billed Gerygone.
 
Hi Lena,
A rose by any other name. I was looking at some books that have not split off the bird mentioned by David Gibbs. The Sibley-Monroe and the Clement's lists have split race hypoxantha from Gerygone magnirostris - Large-billed Gerygone, and named it Biak Gerygone - Gerygone hypoxantha. The Howard & Moore list still has it as Large-billed Gerygone - Gerygone magnirostris hypoxantha.
 
Large-billed Gerygone is white to buff below, a far as I know never yellow. There are three Gerygones in the area with yellow on the underparts: Yellow-bellied (G. chrysogaster), Green-backed (G. chloronotus) and Fairy Gerygone (G. palpebrosa). Green-backed only has yellow flanks (hence, the center of the belly appear white), and I'm not even sure it has been recorded on any of the Islands in Geelvink Bay. Yellow-bellied has a white throat and chest, with yellow limited to the belly & vent. This leads me to my guess: female Fairy Gerygone (it obviously isn't a male!). Females of this species are very similar to the Yellow-bellied, but only the throat is white, while the remaining underparts are yellow. Furthermore, Yellow-bellied normally has relatively pale reddish-grey legs, while they are dark grey to black in the Fairy Gerygone. The Fairy Gerygone also has a very dark greenish-grey tail (green in Green-backed, reddish-brown in Yellow-bellied), but it is obviously somewhat difficult to say for certain what colour the tail is in this individual.
 
Mehd,
I guess we need to see more pics of this one! At least, we are all agreed that it is a Gerygone.
 

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Asia, Australia & Pacific Islands
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mehdhalaouate
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