Nesting Brown-backed Honeyeater Ramsayornis modestus with strange plumage

On 9 September 1990 we were bird-wataching at Lake Iaraguma at about 08:30 under overcast conditions. Jeff Chemnick observed a pair of honeyeater-myzomela tupe birds with brown backs, white vertical ear markings and plum-red facial markings (throat and possibly forehead). The birds were actively foraging in the crown and braches of a Eucalyptus tree. They were seen to collect bark and make repeated trips to another nearby site, presumably nest building. Wahlberg and Hicks identified the birds as Brown-backed Honetyeaters Ramsayornis modestus but were surprised by the facial colouration – a feature previously unrecorded. We feel that this colouration was a natural feature of the bird, as it did not look staining. No source of staining could be found in the immediate vicinity, e.g. flowers or fruit. The extent and intensity of the colouration was similar to that of a female Mountain Red-headed Myzomela Myzomela adolphinae. The nest under construction by this pair of birds was subsequently located and photographed. It was typical of the Brown-backed Honeyeater; a metre off the ground located close to the water’s edge. It was penduline in shape and was composed mostly of Eucalyptus bark.

First published in Muruk 6(1): 45 co-authored with J.Chemnick and N.Wahlberg