- Paramythia montium
Identification
19-22cm. A very distinctive species.
- Black forehead, forecrown, crest (most often flattened along crown), face, throat and upper breast
- Whitish to pale grey hindcrown to nape
- Green upperparts and upperwings with blackish-brown wingtip
- Blue-grey tail
- Blue-grey ear-coverts, hindneck and underparts
- Golden olive-yellow lower abdomen and undertail-coverts, also area on flanks (often hidden by wings)
Sexes similar. Immatures much duller than adults.
Similar species
Western Crested Berrypecker has a longer crest but white streak above eye does not usually reach nape.
Distribution
Endemic to the mountains of New Guinea, mostly in the eastern half (Papua New Guinea}.
Generally common in its range.
Taxonomy
Eastern Crested Berrypecker and Western Crested Berrypecker were formerly considered a single species, the Crested Berrypecker.
Subspecies
Clements recognizes these subspecies[1]:
- P. m. montium:
- Central Highlands and Mountains of south-eastern New Guinea
- P. m. brevicauda:
- South-eastern New Guinea (Mountains of Huon Peninsula)
Habitat
Moist montane forests from about 2100m, mainly from above 2450m up to tree-line at ca. 3800 - 4100m asl.
Behaviour
Feeds mainly on small fruits, occasionally on insects.
Forages actively from canopy to shrubbery levels and even on the ground.
Usually seen in pairs or small flocks, sometimes in larger flocks. These flocks are sometimes accompanied by other species like Blue-capped Ifrit, Black-throated Honeyeater or Friendly Fantail.
Breeding season from August to February. The nest is a deep, untidy cup. It's placed up to 4m above the ground in dense branches of a shrubby bush or a sapling. Lays 1 egg.
A resident, probably locally nomadic.
References
- Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2023. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2023. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2024. IOC World Bird List (v 14.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.14.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- Coates, B., G. M. Kirwan, and D. A. Christie (2023). Eastern Crested Berrypecker (Paramythia montium), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (B. K. Keeney and S. M. Billerman, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.creber2.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Eastern Crested Berrypecker. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 5 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Eastern_Crested_Berrypecker
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
