Black-bellied Myzomela - BirdForum Opus

Alternative names: Black-bellied Honeyeater; New Britain Honeyeater; New Britain Red-headed Honeyeater; New Britain Myzomela; Splendid Myzomela

Myzomela erythromelas

Identification

9-10 cm. A short-tailed, very small honeyeater.

Male

• Mainly black plumage
• Scarlet hood with narrow black loral stripe continuous with narrow black eyering
• Sooty black underwings, silvery grey panel across bases of remiges
• Black, decurved bill

Female

• Slightly smaller than male
• Mainly plain olive plumage, paler below
• Red mask over forehead, forecrown, anterior ear-coverts, malar area and chin and throat
• Dusky lores
• Blackish decurved bill, paler basal third of lower mandible

Juveniles undescribed.

Distribution

Endemic to New Britain in the Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea.
A locally common restricted-range species.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species.

Habitat

Moist lowland primary forests, foothills and secondary growth. Often in clearings and gardens. Occurs up to 900 m, replaced at higher altitudes by Red Myzomela.

Behaviour

Diet

Feeds on nectar, takes probably also small arthropods.
Forages in the outer foliage of tree crowns, lower at forest edge and in secondary growth. Often in small parties in flowering trees. Has been recorded to forage with other species like Ashy Myzomela and Red Myzomela.

Breeding

Fledlings seen in early July. The nest is an open cup. One reported nest was suspendend in dense vine tendrils. No other information.

Movements

Probably a resident species with some food-related local movements.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2015. IOC World Bird Names (version 5.2). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved July 2015)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Black-bellied Myzomela. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 3 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black-bellied_Myzomela

External Links

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