New Ireland Friarbird - BirdForum Opus

Alternative name: Eichhorn's Friarbird

Philemon eichhorni

Identification

32 cm. A dark, large honeyeater with a rather heavy, long and decurved bill.

• Plain dark brown to blackish-brown upperparts
• Silvery white forehead speckled with black, grading into fine silver and dark streaks on crown, supercilium and rear malar area
• Contrasting collar of silvery grey and slightly upcurled feathers on hindneck, grading into blackish and silvery white mottled side of neck
• White tip on tail
• Silvery white chin and throat, finely dark-streaked
• Pale brown underparts, much paler than upperparts
• Greyish-white spotting or scaling (not on belly)
• Brown undertail with greyish-white tip

Sexes similar, males are probably larger than females. Juveniles similar to adults but with yellow wash on throat and scaly appearance.

Distribution

Endemic to New Ireland in the northern Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea.
A poorly known restricted-range species, considered to be common in its preferred altitudinal range.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species.
Forms a superspecies with White-naped Friarbird, New Britain Friarbird, Helmeted Friarbird, Buru Friarbird, Tanimbar Friarbird, Seram Friarbird and Morotai Friarbird. All species have been considered conspecific in the past.

Habitat

Montane forest.
Occurs from 750 to 2200 m, maybe higher.

Behaviour

No information on diet and breeding.
Presumably a resident species.

Reference

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 May 2015)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) New Ireland Friarbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 7 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/New_Ireland_Friarbird

External Links

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