White Pygmy Goose - new for the Port Moresby Area

On 22 November 1987, at 14:30, a female White Pygmy-Goose Nettapus coromandelianus was observed at Aroa Lagoon, Central Province, c.100 km north-west of Port Moresby. The following description is from notes taken at the time: At first the bird was swimming in a channel of open water, between dense beds of water weed less than 50m from the shore. It was similar in size to Green Pygmy-Goose N.pulchellus which were present in large numbers, but smaller than Pacific Black Duck Anas superciliosa. It had a black bill, a dark crown, and a dark smudge about the eye. No obvious white supercilium was noted. The rest of the head, neck, breast and flanks were bright white. It was a much ‘cleaner’ looking bird than expeted from the illustration in Beehler et al (1986) so that we considered at first it was a male in eclipse. After five minutes it flew to another channel further out in the lagoon and was eventually lost to sight. In flight the back and wings appeared grey with a narrow white bar across the tips of the secondaries. The bird was therefore identified as a female.

There are no previous published records of this species in southern PNG (Coates 1985, Beehler et al 1986). The Asian subspecies N.c. coromandelianusis resident in the Sepik basin of nort-western PNG and Lake Kandeep in the Central Highlands (Beehler et al, 1986). The Australian subspecies N.c. albipennis is resident in north-east Australia (Slater et al, 1986) although “it can be expected to occur as a vagrant in southern New Guinea (Beehler et al, 1986).

The origins of the bird at Aroa are not clear. Illustrations of the female of the Asian subspecies (Beehler et al, 1986, King et al, 1984) show a dusky looking bird wile illustrations of the Australian subspecies (Slater et al, 1986, Simpson & Day 1984) show a much whiter appearance. The bird at Aroa appeared most similar to the illustrations of the Australian subspecies. Unfortunately, none of the field guides consulted deal with both subspecies and the written accounts in the above four field guides and in others (Coates 1985; Pizzey 1983; Macdonald 1973; Rand & Gilliard 1967) are very similar although describing different subspecies.

Beehler, B.M, T.K.Pratt & D.A.Zimmerman. 1986. Birds of New Guinea. Princeton University Press.
Coates, B.J. 1985. Birds of Papua New Guinea, Volume 1. Dove.
King, B., M. Woodcock, E.C.Dickinson. 1984. A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia. Collins.
MacDonald, D. 1973. Birds of Australia. Reed.
Pizzey, G. 1983. A Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. Collins.
Rand, A.L. & E.T. Gilliard. 1967. Handbook of New Guinea Birds. Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
Simpson, K. & N.Day. 1984. The Birds of Australia. Lloyd O’Neill
Slater, P., P.Slater & R.Slater. 1986. The Slater Guide to Australian Birds. Rigby.

Originally published in Muruk 3(1): 5, co-authored with Chris Eastwood and Will Glynn.

Food Plants of Female Fan-tailed Berrypecker

During a brief stay at Ambua Lodge, Tari (Southern Highlands Province) in November 1987, female Fan-tailed Berrypeckers Melanocharis versteri were observed feeding on the fruits of three different plants. No male Fan-tailed Berrypeckers were seen feeding. Samples of each plant were collected and subsequently identified by Lawong Balun. They were Planchonella sp (Sapotaceae), Rubus cf. ferdinandi-muelleri Focke (Rosaceae) and Pipturus argenteus Willd (Urticaceae). The fruit of each plant was ingested whole by the birds., the largest fruit being that of R.ferdinandi-muelleri which measured c.7mm x 5mm.

Voucher specimens at UPNG are: Planchonella Hicks & Hicks #8, Rubus #9 Pipturus #10.

Feeding Observations of Short-tailed Paradigalla

Between 9 and 12 October 1987 Short-tailed Paradigalla Paradigalla brevicauda were regularly recorded in the grounds of Ambua Lodge, Tari, Southern Highlands Province, at c.2200m. Most observations were of two birds, presumed to be an adult and juvenile. The adult had creamy-yellow forehead wattles and pale blue gape wattles as depicted by Beehler et al (1986). The juvenile lacked blue gape wattles while its forehead wattles were as large as those of the adult. It was seen to solicit food, in the form of whole fruit, from the adult on three occasions. Each time the juvenile adopted a begging posture with its head held low, neck stretched towards the adult and wings held slightly away from the body and quivering. We could discern no calls associated with the begging.

The adult was observed feeding on the fruit from two Planchonella (Sapotaceae) trees on three occasions. The fleshy berries of these trees were c.10mm in diameter and grey singly on short stalks among the leaves. They usually contained two smooth, elongated seeds. The adult moved through the tree taking only ripe black fruit, leaving hard, green unripe fruit. The whole fruit was ingested. The juvenile was present each time, but it was not seen to take any fruit other than those offered to it by the adult.

At 15:30 on 9 October the juvenile was seen feeding on its own, in a non-fruiting tree. It probed hoes in the branches using its relatively long, decurved bill and took at least one grub. It then pulled dead leaves from the branches, worried at the leaves and seemed to pull further grubs from them, The dead leaves were too high for us to examine them other than through binoculars. When the adult, carrying a Planchonella fruit, landed in the tree, the juvenile stopped its own search for food and begged for the fruit which it received.

At 06:30 on 12 October the adult and juvenile were seen in a species of Sericolea, possibly S.pullei (Laut.) Schltr. (Elaeocarpaceae). This tree was c.6m high and stood in the lodge grounds on the edge of moss forest. The adult was feeding on the small (2 x 1mm) red fruits which are produced singly on short, (1.5cm), thin peduncles amonst the leaves. The juvenile followed the adult through the tree but did not attempt to feed and did not beg to be fed.

At 17:00 on 9 November, also in the grounds of Ambua Lodge, two birds (assumed to be the same ones seen in October) were observed feeding on the berries of a Perrotetia alpestris (Bl.) Loess sp moluccana (Bl.) Hou (Celestraceaea) tree. This tree was c.20m tall.The fruits were small (c.1mm x 0.5mm) and were black when ripe. Fruits were borne singly on short green stems, several of which grew alternately from a more major stem. Although the juvenile was feeding itself, it still followed the adult and was seen to beg for food. A begging call, an often repeated, faint high-pitched squeak was heard.

Voucher specimens at UPNG are: Planchonella, Hicks & Hicks #5; Sericolea #6’ Perrotetia #7. We would like to thank Paul Katik, Lawong Balun and Helen Fortune Hopkins for identifying the food plants.

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

First published in Muruk 3(1): 14, co-authored with Jenny H. Hicks.