Whitehead's Swiftlet Collocalia whiteheadi on Manus?

On a recent visit to Manus, 11 - 14 May 1989, three types of swiftlet Collocalia spp with white rumps were observed, where only two had previously been recorded (Coates 1985). These were identified as follows.

1) The commonest swiftlet was small with narrow pointed wings and a pointed tail. It had dark brown upperparts except for a neat, small, oblong (broader across the body than along it) white rump. The underparts were paler brown and a bit smudgy on the belly. This was identified as White-rumped Swiftlet C. spodiopygia, a species I had previously seen on New Britain and Bougainville. On Manus it was recorded in all habitats visited, from Lorengau at sea-level to rain forest at 200 m. It was the most numerous bird I recorded.

2) This type was similar in size and shape to the White-rumped Swiftlet and also with a small, neat white rump. This was distinguished by a glossy sheen on the upperparts (not always discernible) and a clean white belly sharply demarcated from a darker breast, which I find is a more reliable field characteristic than glossiness. This was identified as a white rumped form of Glossy Swiftlet C. esculenta, probably stresemanni. It was much less numerous than White-rumped Swiftlet and seemed to favour valleys with running water through forest or secondary growth.

3) The third form was larger than the preceding two, having a stockier body, broader wings and a square tail. Its upperparts were dark brown with a large, square, smudgy, ill-defined white rump. The belly was smudgy brown on a dirty white background, becoming more uniform on the breast. It was regularly recorded in small numbers along ridge tops in the interior of the island and always associated with White-rumped Swiftlets.

In shape and size it closely resembled Uniform Swiftlet C. vanikorensis, which has been recorded on Manus, although I did not see it on this trip. Four very similar swiftlets have been recorded in PNG, although two of these, Mountain Swiftlet C. hirundinacea and Three-toed Swiftlet C. papuensis, are endemic to mainland New Guinea (Beehler et al. 1986, Coates 1985). Both Uniform Swiftlet and Whitehead's Swiftlet have ranges extending north of Papua New Guinea (Beehler et al. 1986) although only Whitehead's Swiftlet has a white-rumped form, the New Ireland subspecies, leletensis. This subspecies is known only from a single specimen from the Lelet plateau, New Ireland (Coates 1985).

I think this third type of swiftlet I observed on Manus may be Whitehead's Swiftlet of the New Ireland subspecies. This would extend this subspecies' range 250 km westwards and would be a new species for Manus. However swiftlets are not the easiest species to identify in the field. These observations are presented in the hope that subsequent bird watchers will carefully observe the swiftlets on Manus and either confirm or refute my identification.

Beehler, B.M., T.K. Pratt & D.A. Zimmerman. 1986. Birds of New Guinea. Princeton University Press.
Coates, B.J. 1985. The Birds of Papua New Guinea. Vol 1. Dove Publications.

Originally published in MURUK 5(2):64

In Search of the Manus Endemics.

Manus is one of the more remote of Papua New Guinea's provinces, lying about 250 km north of Madang and the same distance west of New Ireland. It was to this splendid isolation that we flew in early May 1989 for a long weekend away from Port Moresby. Of course while we were there we hoped to see some of the island's endemic birds. Depending which book you read there may be five or six of these: Meek's Pygmy Parrot Micropsitta meeki, Manus Boobook Ninox meeki, Superb Pitta Pitta superba, Manus Rufous Fantail Rhipidura semirubra (sometimes considered only a race of Rufous Fantail), Manus Pied Monarch Monarcha infelix and White-naped Friarbird Philemon albitorques. Manus and its birds have featured relatively little in PNGBS publications to date, so descriptions of the birds we saw are included here to help those who follow.

We arrived at Momote airfield at midday after a flight that had touched down in four provinces and flown over another four. Momote is a large ex-WW2 airfield on the island of Los Negros, which is separated from Manus island by the narrow Lonui Channel. We slowly drove the 25 km to Lorengau, the provincial capital, but only saw White-rumped Swiftlets en route.

Following a lazy afternoon, we went bird watching in the evening at a site recommended by Tony Palliser. It was less than 3 km from Lorengau (see map) and several of the endemics had been seen there. It proved productive for us too. White-rumped Swiftlets were again much in evidence, accompanied by a few Glossy Swiftlets, which also have white rumps here, but are distinguished by cleaner white bellies. Our first new bird was a Black-headed (Bismarck) White-Eye, which was relatively common in areas of secondary growth. It has, as its name implies, a black or dark grey head, including chin and throat, which becomes paler on the nape, shading into the dark green of the upperparts. The white eye-ring was broken in front of the eye and was not as broad as that of the Black-fronted White-Eye, the species with which we are most familiar. The underparts were dusky yellow, brighter on the undertail coverts.

The first endemic we saw, not surprisingly, was a White-naped Friarbird, flying across the valley. In silhouette it was not unlike the Eurasian Jay, albeit with a thinner neck. For a friarbird it was quite striking. It had a dark brown face, crown, mantle, back and wings. The nape and all underparts were pale fawn. It had an amazing range of calls, at times sounding like a Rufous-bellied Kookaburra or a Raggiana Bird of Paradise, neither of which occurs on Manus. It was widespread and we recorded it in all the habitats we visited, including around Lorengau.

The next bird we saw had us puzzled. A cuckoo-shrike landed in a fruiting tree where some Singing Starlings were already feeding. It seemed uniform dark grey with perhaps darker wings, and was noticeably smaller than the starlings. We ruled out Cicadabird at first because we thought it too small, but shortly after it was joined by a female-plumaged Cicadabird. As the starlings appeared normal sized we decided it must be a small subspecies. A second puzzle followed a little later when a third type of swiftlet with a white rump was seen. It was generally larger and stockier than both White-rumped and Glossy Swiftlets, with a large, square, dirty white rump. We think this may prove to be Whitehead's Swiftlet of the New Ireland race. As this may be a new record for Manus, one of only a few records of this subspecies and an increase in the known distribution of this subspecies, this observation will be written up in more detail (Hicks in prep).

Our third new bird was Meek's Pygmy-Parrot, which we heard repeatedly before seeing a small flock foraging along the branches of a large tree. Generally they had mustard yellow heads, although some had dark crowns, and underparts, except for the undertail coverts, which were brighter yellow. The mantle, back, wings and tail were dark green. The legs were orange. They were relatively common and easily seen in both forest and secondary growth. Our second new record for Manus, which will also be written up in more detail, was a pair of Claret-breasted Fruit-Doves feeding in the same fruiting tree as the Cicadabirds and starlings. This rounded off our evening's bird watching.

Disappointingly the remainder of our stay produced no more new birds although we did see Common Golden Whistler and more Claret-breasted Fruit-Doves in rainforest along the highway. Frustratingly the endemic Superb Pitta may have been glimpsed. A bird was flushed from a forest track, all that was noted of this bird was a flash of electric blue on the inner wings and across the back of a pitta-sized bird. What else could it have been? If Superb Pitta is found at this site (see map), then all the Manus endemics can be found within 3 km of Lorengau, as Tony Palliser recorded Manus Boobook and Manus Pied Monarch in the same area.

We would like to thank Tony Palliser who provided information about bird watching on Manus and supplied the very useful map, which we have reproduced here, with some additions.

Species List: Brahminy Kite; Grey Goshawk; Large Sand-Plover; Grey-tailed Tattler; Black-naped Tern; Crested Tern; Claret-breasted Fruit-Dove; Rainbow Lorikeet; Black-capped Lory; Meek's Pygmy-Parrot; Eclectus Parrot; Brush Cuckoo (h); Moustached Tree-Swift; White-rumped Swiftlet; Glossy Swiftlet; Whitehead's Swiftlet (?); Rainbow Bee-eater; Superb Pitta (?); White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike; Cicadabird; Northern Fantail; Shining Flycatcher; Common Golden Whistler; Yellow-bellied Sunbird; Black-headed White-Eye; White-naped Friarbird; Singing Starling; Metallic Starling. 28 species.

Originally published in MURUK 5(1):34-36

Range extension for Claret-breasted Fruit-Dove Ptilinopus viridis

On a visit to Manus in May 1989, Claret-breasted Fruit-Doves Ptilinopus viridis were noted on two occasions. As this species had not previously been recorded from Manus (Coates 1985) details of these observations are presented here.

On the evening of 11 May 1989, while bird watching c. 3 km outside Lorengau on the Trans-Island Highway, a pair of Claret-breasted Fruit-Doves were observed for nearly 20 minutes while they fed and sat in an unidentified fruiting tree, in the company of a pair of Cicadabirds Coracina tenuirostris, Black-headed White-Eyes Zosterops hypoxantha and a Singing Starling Aplonis cantoroides. The fruit-doves were in view nearly the whole time and I watched them using 10x binoculars from a distance of less than 30 m. The following notes were made: both birds were mainly "fruit-dove" green with a broad, triangular shaped (apex uppermost) claret patch extending from the throat onto the breast. The head was greyer than the body and the undertail coverts were off-white. I did not note the colour of bill nor any markings on the inner wing. This breast patch was smaller on the presumed female, but was not a small crescentic mark as in the northern New Guinea race salvadorii, suggesting these are birds of one of the eastern races vicinus or lewisii. The second observation on 12 May 1989, c. 10 km from Lorengau along the Trans-Island Highway was brief, but long enough to identify the species. Other fruit-doves were seen but not identified. I have previously seen Claret-breasted Fruit-Dove once, on Bougainville in June 1986.

The Superb Fruit-Dove P. superbus, with which I am familiar from the Port Moresby area and the Yellow-bibbed Fruit-Dove P. solomonensis, which I have seen once on Bougainville, have both been recorded on Manus. I identified neither during my stay on Manus, but do not think either could be mistaken for a Claret-breasted Fruit-Dove.

In PNG the Claret-breasted Fruit-Dove has a disjointed range, being found along the north coast of New Guinea east to Madang, in the D'Entrecasteaux islands (Goodenough, Fergusson and Normanby) and the North Solomon Islands (Nissan, Buka and Bougainville) (Coates 1985). In the Bismarck archipelago it is known only from Lihir Island, north of New Ireland (Coates 1985, Burrows 1987). Manus lies c. 250 km north of Madang and c. 600 km west of Lihir, so this observation represents a considerable range extension for this species.

Burrows, I. 1987. Some notes on the Birds of Lihir. Muruk 2: 40-42.
Coates, B.J. 1985. The Birds of Papua New Guinea. Vol 1. Dove Publications.

Originally published in MURUK 5(2):85.