Alternative names: Bismarck Friabird; Bismarck Friarbird; New Britain Friabird; New Britain Leatherhead
- Philemon cockerelli
Identification
33-35 cm. A large, drab honeyeater with a long neck and a heavy, decurved bill.
- Plain dull dark brown above
- Strongly contrasting, fluffy silvery grey collar on hindneck and side of neck, meeting pale brownish-grey chin and throat
- Large dark grey to blackish-brown bare patch on lores and most of side of head
- Narrow dense and hair-like dark brown to blackish malar stripe running below bare facial patch and continuing onto rear ear-coverts
- Pale brownish-grey chin and throat bordered below by slightly darker gorget across upper breast, indistinct mottling or streaking on lower throat to upper breast
- Very pale grey-brown rest of underparts
- Plumages becoming much paler brown with wear
- umboi is slightly larger and has a heavier bill
Sexes similar, male larger than female. Juvenile like adult but wing and tail washed with olive, duller greyish-white collar and brownish-grey side of breast with yellowish wash.
Distribution
Islands of the Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea.
A common to abundant restricted-range species.
Taxonomy
Two subspecies recognized:
- P. c. umboi on Umboi Island (southwest Bismarck Archipelago)
- P. c. cockerelli on New Britain and Duke of York Island (Bismarck Archipelago)
Formerly sometimes treated as subspecies of Helmeted Friarbird.
Habitat
Moist lowland forests and montanes. Also in cleared and disturbed areas, gardens and plantations.
Occurs from lowlands up to 1600 m.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on nectar and arthropods.
Forages mainly in the canopy, often seen in flowering trees (like mistletoe). A noisy and conspicuous bird, usually singly or in pairs, sometimes in small flocks.
Breeding
Probably breeds in late dry season to wet season on northern coast and in middle of dry season on south coast. The nest is a cup made of dry stems of vines and grass. It's suspended between branches, concealed by foliage, usually more than 10 m above the ground in a tree.
Movements
Probably a resident species with some local movements.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved September 2016)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) New Britain Friarbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 25 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/New_Britain_Friarbird
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
