Myola in September

Following our successful trip to Myola in early June, another was organised for late September 1987. Heavy overnight rain in the week preceding our departure, early on Friday 25 September did not bode well for our long weekend. The general concensus was ‘if it’s wet in Moresby, it must be worse in Myola’. So we were pleasantly surprised upon landing to find clear blue skies, even if it was a bit chilly until the sun climbed above the surrounding hills. There might even have been a frost on the runway. It remained sunny, dry and mostly cloudless for the duration of our stay, surely a record for Myola.

The bird-watching matched the weather all the way with everyone seeing new birds. We recorded 72 species, several of which had not been recorded in the area previously. PNGBS members have visited Myola six times in the past two and a half years. Some species seemed more common and others less numerous than on previous visits. Less in evidence were Common Smoky Honeyeater, Blue-capped Iftrita and, to a certain extent, Belford’s Melidectes, or maybe the latter were just quieter. Stephanie’s Astrapia was only record on two occasions, at the edge of the forest. Black Monarch seemed to be present in greater numbers, or at least was recorded more often. Many of the birds ‘new’ to Myola were active canopy species, which I think would have been noted if they had been present on previous visits. Good views were had of both Sittellas, Varied and Black, in the same area of forest although on different days. Joan Oliver rustled up Garnet Robins wherever she went, but I had real trouble getting to grip with these birds and am still waiting for my first good sighting; maybe next time. Two skulkers were also added to the list; these may have been present all the time but avoided detection. Chris Eastwood found a Black-throated Robin on our last afternoon and a Lesser Ground Robin was caught in a net. I subsequently had a glimpse of another one on the forest floor. One of the highlights of the weekend for me was seeing a male Macgregor’s Bowerbird perched in the open with his crest partially raised, unfortunately a sight that only Ian Burrows and I witnessed.

As on our last visit we used mist nets to trap birds for ringing (banding). This time we set the nets to the east of the village, two in dense secondary growth and the rest in moss forest. We were much more successful than previously, catching 82 birds of 20 species. We seemed to have birds in the net all the time but without doubt Saturday morning was the high spot. Our first round of the nets, just after dawn, produced only one bird but that was a Mountain Owlet-Nightjar, the first in that family for most of us. This was followed in the next couple of hours by a succession of good birds, including Lesser Ground Robin (making Ian and Helen members of a very select club having seen and ringed Greater Ground Robin on English Peaks), Rufous-naped Whistler, which was much brighter than the illustration in the field guide and New Guinea White-Eye. Fan-tailed Berrypecker was the most commonly caught species, although only rarely seen out of the net; over the weekend we handled 21 of which 13 were females or juvenile and the majority were caught in nets in the secondary growth. Ashy Robins were caught wherever we placed the nets and always in the lowest shelves. The larger individuals all showed a pale horn-coloured tip to the bill which the smaller birds lacked. Further studies may indicate whether this is a reliable field character for aging or sexing birds, or whether it is just individual variation.

Mike Hopkins, Simon Headford and Krysia Lupa left the relative comfort of the guest house on Saturday morning for an expedition to the higher altitude of the central divide to the north of Myola. They spent a frosty night in the tre fern forest at c.2600m and then moved higher. Mike eventually reached c.3150m to the north-east of Myola and saw several species not recorded lower. Eastern Alpine Mannikins were common in the tree fern forest and higher he saw Painted Tiger-Parrot, Mountain Robin, Alpine Pipit and Sooty Melidectes. There was no sign of the hoped for Macgregor’s Bird of Paradise but the bird’s main food plant Dacrycarpus was not in flower or fruit. Mik returned full of enthusiasm for this high altitude forest and is already planning another expedition to return in the near future.

Once again our stay was all too short. We would like to thank the villagers of  Myola for their hospitality, Talair for promptness of the charter flight and Pacific Expeditions through whom we organised the trip.

People List: Ian Burrows, Chris Eastwood, Simon Headford, Roger & Jenny Hicks (+1/4), Mike & Helen Hopkins, Krysia Lupa and Joan Oliver.

 

Species List: r = ringed; h = heard, M = Mike’s high altitude expedition only

Brown Falcon, Wattled Brush-Turkey (h), Brown Quail, King Quail, Forbes’ Forest-Rail, Spotless Crake (h), Black-billed Cuckoo-Dove, Bronze Ground-Dove, White-breasted Fruit-Dove, Papuan Mountain Pigeon, Goldie’s Lorikeet, Little Red Lorikeet, Orange-billed Lorikeet (M), Painted Tiger-Parrot (M), Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Sooty Owl (h), Papuan Boobook (h), Mountain Owlet-Nightjar (r), Mountain Swiftlet, Glossy Swiftlet, Pacific Swallow, Alpine Pipit (M), Pied Chat, Lesser Ground Robin (r), Island Thrush (r), Spotted Jewel-Babbler, Lesser Melampitta, Blue-capped Ifrita, Tawny Grassbird, Orange-crowned Fairy-Wren (r), Mountain Mouse-Warbler (r), Large Scrub-Wren (r), Buff-faced Scrub-Wren (r), Papuan Scrub-Wren (r), Grey Gerygone, Brown-breasted Gerygone, Dimorphic Fantail (r), Black Fantail (r), Friendly Fantail, Black Monarch, Black-breasted Boatbill, Canary Flycatcher (r), Garnet Robin, Mountain Robin (M), Ashy Robin (r), Black-throated Robin, White-winged Robin (M), Blue-Grey Robin (r), Regent Whistler (r), Rufous-naped Whistler (r), Papuan Treecreeper, Black Sittella, Varied Sittella, Fan-tailed Berrypecker (r), Tit Berrypecker, Spotted Berrypecker, Papuan Flowerpecker, Crested Berrypecker (M), New Guinea White-Eye (r), Olive Straightbill (r), Red-collared Myzomela, Rufous-backed Honeyeater (r), Sooty Melidectes (M), Belford’s Melidectes, Common Smoky Honeyeater, Grey-headed Mannikin, Eastern Alpine Manniken (M),  Macgregor’s Bowerbird (r), Loria’s Bird of Paradise, Brown Sicklebill, Stepahanie’s Astrapia.

First Published in Muruk 3(1):17-18

Observations of birds feeding at a flowering Syzygium

On 5 September 1987 I found a Syzygium sp (Myrtaceae) tree in flower, beside the boundary trail in Varirata National Park (Central Province) at c. 750 m. The tree was c. 30 m tall and had a large spreading canopy. It stood on the bank of the stream, in the bottom of a steep sided, relatively narrow valley. The flowers occurred in clusters growing directly from the sides, not at the ends of the branches, and did not grow from smaller twigs. The clusters consisted of many stalks, almost mistletoe-like, with each stalk supporting a flower. These clusters were about 15 cm in diameter. The stalks on which the flowers grew were quite woody and would support a bird the size of a Helmeted Friarbird Philemon buceroides.

Between 5 and 20 September 1987 I visited the tree four times and watched for a total of 520 minutes (5 September 15:00 - 16:45; 12 September 07:45 - 08:10; 13 September 08:45 - 11:30 and 20 September 07:00 - 10:45). The shortest observation period was 25 minutes and the longest 225 minutes. There were many fewer flowers on 20 September, the last visit, than on the first, although I cannot quantify this. I observed the tree from a convenient point on the ground, from where 70% of the canopy was visible. Although the tree was in leaf, the foliage was sparse and it was only the crown of a smaller tree that obscured my view.

Nine species, six honeyeaters (plus one unidentified meliphaga) and two lories were observed feeding at the flowers of this Syzygium tree. Feeding birds were present in the tree for 85% of the observation time, which included all of the first three observation periods. Only during the final observation period, when there were fewer flowers, were there times when there were no birds feeding in the tree.

Between one and four Helmeted Friarbirds were present throughout the first three observation periods. On 20 September two birds made only a brief visit to the tree to feed. Helmeted Friarbirds were present in the tree for 57% of the observation period and during this time at least one bird was at a flower cluster apparently feeding. While in the tree, the friarbirds moved from flower-cluster to flower-cluster by hopping along the branches or flying from branch to branch. When feeding the friarbirds perched by, or on the flower cluster, using their long necks and bills to reach the more inaccessible flowers. Although there were many flowers on each cluster, the friarbirds fed from only a few before moving onto the next cluster, so the time spent at each cluster was short, usually less than two minutes. Even when four friarbirds were in the tree together no intraspecific aggression was noted, although the birds seemed to keep in pairs. When a single bird was alone in the tree it called almost continuously.

Greater Streaked Lories Chalcopsitta scintillata were not recorded on the first visit but were seen on the subsequent three visits. Between two to eight birds (one to four pairs) were noted. They were present in the tree for 19% of the observation time. On approaching and leaving the tree the birds were noisy but were mostly quite while feeding. They moved from flower-cluster to flower-cluster by walking along the branches. On the flower-clusters they moved acrobatically from flower to flower, hanging upside-down to reach the more inaccessible ones. They did not appear to damage the flowers, i.e. they were not flower predators. No intraspecific aggression was noted and although competing for the same resource no interspecific aggression with the friarbirds was recorded.

Western Black-capped Lories Lorius lory were present in the tree for 35 minutes (7% of the observation time). Two to four were recorded feeding in the tree. They were not seen in the tree at the same time as the Greater Streaked Lories. As with the Greater Streaked Lories they were mainly quiet while feeding, but noisy when flying to and from the tree. They were also more acrobatic than the Helmeted Friarbirds when feeding at the flower clusters.

The remaining six species, all honeyeaters, which visited the Syzygium tree to feed, did so only briefly. Each feeding visit lasted less than a minute, with the birds usually only feeding at one or two flower-clusters as they passed through the tree. These six species made 13 feeding visits to the tree. Three species made five feeding visits on 5 September and four species, plus an unidentified meliphaga made eight feeding visits on 20 September. On 5 September one Tawny-breasted Honeyeater Xanthotis flaviventer, two Puff-backed Meliphagas Meliphaga aruensis and one Dwarf Honeyeater Oedistoma iliolophus passed through the tree with a mixed-species feeding flock. A single Tawny-breasted Honeyeater had also been recorded earlier in the first observation period. On 20 September an unidentified meliphaga and a Red-throated Myzomela Myzomela eques were with a party that also included two Helmeted Friarbirds and also fed on the Syzygium flowers. One male Papuan Black Myzomela Myzomela nigrita, two Mimic Meliphagas Meliphaga analoga and two Tawny-breasted Honeyeaters moved through the tree with another mixed-species feeding flock later in the day. No interspecific aggression was noted among the species that made up these flocks, possibly because the smaller species were inhibited by the presence of the Friarbirds. Only when the numbers of flowers were much reduced, on 20 September and the friarbirds only noted briefly, were the smaller birds recorded more frequently.

I would like to thank Jenny Hicks and Barry and Lynda Hopkins who helped with the observations and Helen Fortune Hopkins and Mike Hopkins who commented on an earlier draft of this note.

An Extension of Altitude Range for two Mannikin Species

On 3 April 1986 at Myola, Northern Province (09^o 09’ S 147^o 45’ E) two Eastern Alpine Mannikins Lonchura monticola were observed on the edge of a flock of c.100 Grey-headed Mannikins L.caniceps feeding on the short grass of the airstrip. Two birds were subsequently seen on the moss forest/grassland border, again in the company of Grey-headed Mannikins. Myola, at 2080m lies well below the normal altitude range for Eastern Alpine Mannikins, given as 2700m – 3500m in Beeler et al. (1986) and 9000’-12000’ (2750m – 3400m) in Rand and Gilliard (1967). In the days preceding the observation there had been very heavy and continuous rainfall. This might have caused the birds to move lower. Grey-headed Mannikins had been recorded on each of the five days prior to these observations. In September 1987 Eastern Alpine Mannikins were found to be common on the tree fern forest located 2km from Myola and 500m higher (M.J.G. Hopkins pers. comm.).

Grey-headed Mannikins have been recorded at Myola on previous and subsequent visits: April 1985 P.Lambley; June 1986 J.Oliver; April 1987 H.C.F. Hopkins & P.Lambley (all pers.comm.) and in September 1985, June 1987 and September 1987 (pers. obs.). They have usually been observed feeding in the grasslands of the Myola basin or along the moss forest/grassland edge. Myola is higher than the upper altitude limit for this species given by Beeler et al. (1986) as 1900m and by Rand and Gilliard (1967) as 5800’ (c.1800m). The regular recording of this species suggests it is resident in the area.

Beehler, B.M., T.K.Pratt & D.A.Zimmerman (1986). Birds of New Guinea. Princeton University Press.

Rand, A.L. & E.T. Gilliard (1967). Handbook of New Guinea Birds. Weidenfeld and Nicolson.

First published in Muruk 2(2): 60