Beyond Myola

Early on 16 October 1987 I was again on my way to Myola, only three weeks after my last visit. Then, Mike Hopkins had reached 3150m to the east of the village. Such was his enthusiasm for this high altitude forest that he had organised this trip in order to return as soon as possible. This time I, and five others, were going to accompany him. We arrived in Myola before 07:00 to be greeted by the now traditional coffee and toast. After breakfast, porters were hired to carry our bags to a campsite selected by Mike on his previous visit. We set off at about 08:30 on the first stage of our trek. The path climbed steeply most of the way and it took us about 4 hours to reach the tree fern forest at 2800m (700m higher than Myola). Towards the top of the ridge some flowering trees were attracting a variety of lorikeets including Papuan, Little Red, Yellow-billed and Plum-faced. Nearby, and moving with contrasting slowness, we saw a male Brehm’s Tiger-Parrot. The hunting trail we were following continued beyond the weird scenery of the tree fern forest but still climbed just as steeply. Orange-billed Lorikeets replaced Yellow-billed but there was much less bird activity during the afternoon or maybe I was just getting to tired to notice. Mike, Peter and Burk pushed on ahead and by the time Bill and I reached the grassland where Mike intended us to camp, they had already set up the tents. Our campsite was on a slight rise in the grassland, at 3150m. Alpine Pipits were common flying from the grass to perch on tree ferns while Island Thrushes and white-winged Robins were to be seen at the forest edge.

As the sun sank, the temperature dropped rapidly and we all opted for the warmth of our sleeping bags. When I woke there was ice on the tent and until the sun climbed above the surrounding peaks it was chilly. A pair of Eastern Alpine Mannikin and a small party of Mountain Firetails, which drew our attention by their mewing calls, were seen at the grassland edge near the camp. Belford’s Melidectes and Crested Berrypecker were common in the forest. After breakfast, and a stand in the sun to warm up, Mike and Peter set of in an attempt to reach the summit of Mount Kenevi (3400m) while Helen and I went in search of birds in the forest nearer the campsite. Three Greater Ground Robins, intent on a dispute of their own, stopped less than 2m from us. Upon realising we were there, one flew for about 2m, never more than 10cm from the ground. This may be the first time this species has been recorded flying. Before returning to the camp for lunch we added Lesser Melampitta and Blue-capped Ifrita to our list. For the latter this c.300m above the extreme upper limit given in Beehler et al (1986). After lunch we ventured to another part of the forest seeing a male Painted Tiger-Parrot climbing moss covered branches, a very cryptic Rufous Woodcock foraging amongst leaf litter and a flock of c.20 New Guine Thornbills flitting through the canopy. Chris went in search of the ground robins and dipped, but did see a male Crested Bird of Paradise. Some consolation! Mike and Peter returned having not quite made it to the top of Mt Kenevi but they did see Mountain Robin, a species that eluded the rest of us. We spent the evening chatting around the camp-fire while watching UFOs glide across the milky way. By the time we turned in there was a hard covering of ice on the tents.

After an early morning birding session around the camp that produced nothing new, we packed the tents and headed back to Myola. Walking up had been hard work but going down was painful and although I was rewarded with a good look at a male Garnet Robin, shining in the sun, I was very pleased to wander into Myola at 16:00. A restful evening in the Myola guest house, with dinner cooked for us, was a nice way to round off the weekend.

As always our thanks to Talair, Pacific Expeditions and, especially the people of Myola. Thanks also to Mike for organising the venture. I enjoyed it and despite the distance walked, the lack of oxygen, the intense midday sun and freezing conditions at night; I think everyone else did too. Isn’t that right Chris? Bill?

People List: Bill Cooper, Chris Eastwood, Roger Hicks, Mike & Helen Hopkins. Peter Lambley and Burk Sharpless.

Species List: Brown Goshawk, Rufous Woodcock, White-breasted Fruit-Dove, Papuan Mountain Pigeon, Goldie’s Lorikeet, Little Red Lorikeet, Papuan Lorikeet, Yellow-billed Lorikeet, Plum-faced Lorikeet, Orange-billed Lorikeet, Brehm’s Tiger Parrot, Mountain Swiftlet, Glossy Swiftlet, Alpine Pipit, Greater Ground Thrush, Island Thrush, Spotted Jewel-Babbler, Lesser Melampitta, Blue-capped Ifrita, Tawny Grassbird, Mountain Mouse-Warbler, Large Scrub-Wren, Buff-faced Scrub-Wren, Papuan Scrub-Wren, New Guinea Thornbill, Dimorphic Fantail, Black Fantail, Friendly Fantail, Black-breasted Boatbill, Canary Flycatcher, Garnet Robin, Mountain Robin, White-winged Robin, Regent Whistler, Rufous-naped Whistler, Papuan Treecreeper, Black Sitella, Mid-mountain Berrypecker, Tit Berrypecker, Crested Berrypecker, Red-collared Myzomela, Black-throated Honeyeater, Rufous-backed Honeyeater, Sooty Melidectes, Belford’s Melidectes, Common Smoky Honeyeater, Mountain Firetail, Eastern Alpine Mannikin, Macgregor’s Bowerbird, Crested Bird of Paradise, Brown Sicklebill, Stephanie’s Astrapia.

First published in Muruk 3(2): 65-67

A Weekend in Tari

The Tari area, in the Southern Highlands Province, is the home to some of the stranger and more spectacular of PNG’s birds. With the opening of Ambua Lodge, in early 1986, it has acquired a reputation as one of the top birding locations in the world. Bird tours, from all over, visit the lodge and an extensive list of species, including 13 birds of pardise have been recorded. A booklet detailing the species to be seen in the area, written by Brian Frinch and updated by Cliff & Dawn Frith and Nick Gardner, is available from the lodge. Although several members of the PNGBS have visted the area, and stayed at the lodge, little has appeared in the PNGBS publications.

Ambua Lodge lies at about 2200m on the edge of the inhabited and cultivated Tari Basin and unspoilt moss forest, The township of Tari lies 700m lower while the forest above the lodge extends to the grassland of Tari Gap at 2800m. Within this altitude range can be found a wide variety of birds and nearly every species seen will be a New Guinea endemic.

We visited Ambua Lodge on an Air Niugini weekender package in early October 1987. It was the first time this year we had been away on our own and, with due deference t PNGBS members, it made a very nice change. We arrived in Tari before mid-day and were transported to the lodge. The bird-watching was delayed by lunch and then heavy rain but later we found a fruiting tree in the woods below the orchid garden which was attracting several birds of paradise. Over the weekend we watched this tree for about 8 hours and recorded the following feeding on the ripe black berries: an adult and juvenile Short-tailed Paradigalla; a female Blue Bird of Paradise; a female Lawes Parotia and male and female Loria’s Bird of Paradise. Female Brown Sicklebill and Ribbon-tailed Astrapia were seen nearby. An impressive complement of birds and all within the lodge grounds.

Early on Saturday morning we got a lift up to the gap and began walking down to the lodge. In the low scrub bordering the grassland we watched a female Crested Bird of Paradise feeding on small berries and a pair of Crested Berrypeckers feeding in the next bush. The machine gun-like call of a male Brown Sicklebill could be heard almost continuously and a female was watched foraging along moss-covered branches. Lower down, in the open moss forest, the ‘radio static’ call of a male King of Saxony Bird of Paradise was heard and eventually located, displaying in the top of tree with his antennae waving in all directions, an unforgettable sight. Our stroll down the hill became a sprint through heavy rain and we arrived at the lodge soaked to the skin. The log fire in the lounge was most most welcoming.

On Sunday we went below the lodge and saw Superb Bird of Paradise and numerous Island Leaf Warblers but not the hoped for Black Sicklebill nor male Blue Bird of Paradise. The reaminder of the day was spent in the lodge grounds. A Torrent-Lark was seen near the spectacular waterfall across the road; a pair of Varied Sittella foraged on the trunks of trees along the driveway and a female Macgregor’s Bowerbird was seen in the wood below the orchid garden.

Only a few of the species we recorded this weekend are mentioned above. Our list is presented below, but a dedicated birder could add many to that over a long weekend. For a birder visiting PNG this area must be high on the list of places to visit. Nowhere else in the country is it possible to find so many endemic species which are so readily accessible. For example, we saw 10 species of Birds of Paradise in our first 24-hours. For non-birders there is the intriguing culture of the Huli Wigmen, the inhabitants of the Tari Basin, who use bird of paradise feathers in their head-dresses. It is a fascinating destination, whatever your interest.

Species List: h = heard only,

New Guinea Harpy-Eagle (h), Little Curlew, Black-billed Cuckoo-Dove, White-breasted Fruit-Dove, Papuan Mountain Pigeon, Papuan Mountain Pigeon, Dusky Lory, Rainbow Lorikeet, Papuan Lorikeet, Yellow-billed Lorikeet, Tiger-Parrot sp, Rufous-throated Bronze-Cuckoo, Papuan Boobook, Mountain Swiftlet, Glossy Swiftlet, Pacific Swallow, Long-tailed Shrike, Pied Chat, Island Thrush, Tawny Grassbird, White-shouldered Fairy-Wren, Large Scrub-Wren, Buff-faced Scrub-Wren, Black Fantail, Friendly Fantail, Canary Flycatcher, Black-throated Robin, White-winged Robin, Blue-Grey Robin, Varied Sittella, Fan-tailed Berrypecker, Crested Berrypecker, Red-collared Myzomela, Rufous-backed Honeyeater, Grey-backed Streaked Honeyeater, Belford’s Melidectes, Yellow-browed Melidectes, Common Smoky Honeyeater, Hooded Mannikin, Mountain Firetail (h), Torrent-Lark, Great Wood-Swallow, Macgregor’s Bowerbird, Crested Bird of Paradise, Loria’s Bird of Paradise, Short-tailed Paradigalla, Brown Sicklebill, Ribbon-tailed Astrapia, Stepahanie’s Astrapia, Lawes Parotia, King of Saxony Bird of Paradise, Blue Bird of Paradise.

First published in Muruk 3(1): 20-23 co-authored with Jenny H. Hicks

Observations of birds feeding in a fruiting Planchonella

During a visit to Ambua Lodge, near Tari (Southern Highlands Province) at c.2200m, we observed several species of birds feeding in a fruiting Planchonella sp. (Sapotaceae) tree was observed. It stood near the top of a steep sided valley and was c.20m tall with a large spreading canopy with sparse foliage that allowed clear views of feeding birds. The fruits were about 10mm in diameter and grew singly on short stalks amongst the leaves. Birds were only recorded feeding on ripe fruits which were distinguished from the unripe green fruits y being black with soft flesh. They usually contained two elongated seeds. Other Planchonella sp trees in the same area of forest were also in fruit and Short-tailed Paradigalla Paradigalla brevicauda and Superb Bird of Paradise Lophorina superba were noted feeding in them.

We first found the tree on 9 October 1987. Over the following three days (10 – 12 October 1987) we watched this Planchonella tree for a total of 465 minutes (7.75 hours) spread over five periods: 10 Oct: 14:30-16:00; 11 Oct 09:30-12:15, 16:45-18:00; 12 Oct 07:15-08:15, 09:30-10:45). The shortest observation period was 60 minutes and the longest 165 minutes. We observed the tree from a convenient vantage point, less than 20m from the trunk and which allowed us to view most of the canopy. We used 10x and 8x binoculars.

Over the four days seven species were observed feeding in the tree, including a minimum of nine individuals of five species of birds of paradise. No birds were present in the tree for 289 minutes of the observation periods (62% of the total observation time). Periods of no bird activity coincided with overcast, cooler and windier conditions, particularly when the wind was strong enough to move the branches. During the remaining 176 minutes five species of birds were recorded feeding in the tree. Most activity was noted in sunny and calm conditions (11 Oct 10:00-11:25 14 feeding records; 12 Oct 09:39-10:30 9 feeding records) and in the early evening (11 Oct 16:47-17:54 15 feeding records).

During our first cursory observation, at 15:20 on 9 October 1987, two species of bird of paradise, a female Blue Bird of Paradise Paradisaea rudolphi and two Short-tailed Paradigalla, considered to be an adult and a juvenile (Hicks & Hicks 1988), were seen feeding in the tree but not subsequently recorded in the tree.

A party of four Buff-faced Scrub-Wrens Sericornis perspicillatus was seen on three occasions, moving noisily through the tree, foraging along the smaller branches and twigs and amongst epiphytes. They were present for less than five minutes each time and were not seen to feed on the fruit or any part of the fruit.

The remaining four species were all recorded feeding on the Planchonella fruit. White-breasted Fruit-Doves Ptilinopus rivoli, never more than one male and one female at a time, were present in the tree for 124 minutes. They spent very little time actively feeding, mostly perching still in leaf shade. A solitary male was present on two occasions, spending 44 minutes in the tree, but was seen to take only one fruit. A solitary female also made two visits, both times overlapping with the single male, and was seen to take four fruits, three of them in a nine minute period. This species ingested the fruits whole.

Three species of bird of paradise visited the tree to feed (other than the two species only recorded during our first brief visit mentioned above). In total they spent much less time in the tree in the tree than the fruit-doves, only coming to this Planchonella tree to feed, but they took more fruits.

A female Lawes’ Parotia Parotia lawesii spent 10 minutes in the tree, two visits lasting seven and three minutes respectively, both on the same morning, In this time it fed on 11 fruits. The bird pulled each fruit from the tree using its bill and then held the fruit against a branch while it tore strips from the fruit with its bill.

Superb Birds of Paradise, never more than one male or one female at any one time were present on the tree for 20 minutes and took 17 fruits. A male made four visits to the tree during the two morning observation periods, no visit exceeding four minutes. A female also made four visits, all during the evening observation period, so never overlapping with the male. Both male and female birds foraged throughout the canopy of the tree in a ‘tit-like’ manner, often hanging upside down to reach fruit. As well as the fruit, a male Superb Bird of Paradise was noted feeding on a grub which it had extracted from the bark of the tree. It probably obtained other food items this way as it was observed foraging alon branches and among epiphytes on other occasions.

Loria’s Birds of Paradise Cnemophilus loriae were present in the tree for 30 minutes and took 20 fruits, which were ingested whole. Only one female was present at any one time. A solitary female mad six visits to the tree, feeding on the fruits on each visit except one when it was in the tree for less than a minute. The average length of a feeding visit was 2.25 minutes and the average number of fruit taken per visit was 1.5. A solitary male made three visits to the tree while for one five minute period, two males and one female were present. Males ate the fruit on each visit. The average length of a feeding visit was 2.66 minutes amd the average number of fruit taken per visit was 1.2. Male(s) and female were only present together on the tree for six minutes.

As far as we know Planchonella sp has not previously been recorded as a food plant of birds of paradise or fruit-doves (Rand & Gilliard 1967, Gilliard 1968) although the seeds have been recorded in Dwarf Cassowary Casuarius bennetti droppings (Pratt 1983).

In the lowlands of PNG flocks of fruit-doves, sometimes numbering 50 – 100 birds are found in fruiting trees often feeding in a frenzy. At most, only two birds were present in this tree and only occasionally took a fruit. This may indicate that Planchonella is not a favoured food source of fruit-doves but will be taken to supplement the diet or that fewer frugivores at this altitude both in terms of species, e.g. only one species of fruit-dove c.f. six at sea-level, and individuals means less competition for a food source which possibly leds to less frenetic activity.

Two species, Lawes’ Parotia and Blue Bird of Paradise, were at the limits of their altitude range and had not previously been recorded in the grounds of Ambua Lodge, at c.2200m, although both were known to occur lower in the Tari Basin (Finch 1987).

Voucher specimen at UPNG is Hicks & Hicks #5. We would like to thank Paul Katik of the National Herbarium,Lae, for identifying the plant and Helen Fortune Hopkins for her helpful criticisms of earlier drafts.

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

Finch, B.W. 1987. The Birds of Ambua and Tari District – a Trans-Niugini Tours guide to the birds in the vicinity of Ambua Lodge (with additional notes by C.Frith, D.Frith and N.Gardner). 2^nd Edition. Trans-Niugini Tours.
Gilliard, E.T. 1969. Birds of Paradise  and Bowerbirds. London. Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
Hicks, R.K. & J.H. Hicks. 1988. Feeding Observations of Short-tailed Paradigalla. Muruk 3: 14
Pratt, T.K. 1982. Diet of Dwarf Cassowary Casuarius bennetti picticollis at Wau, Papua New Guinea. Emu 82: 283-285.
Rand, A.L. and E.T.Gilliard. 1967 Handbook of New Guinea Birds. London. Weidenfeld And Nicolson.

First published in Muruk 3(1): 10-11, co-authored with Jenny H. Hicks.

Display of Loria’s Bird of Paradise

At 10:15 on 11 October 1987 a displaying male Loria’s Bird of Paradise Cnemophilus loriae was observed briefly in the grounds of Ambua Lodge, Tari, Southern Highlands Province at c.2200m. Our attention was drawn to the displaying bird by a regular clicking noise. We could not at the time decide whether the click was a call or bill snapping. [It was probably the latter since a male bird which was recently (13 June 1988) mist-netted at Myola, Oro Province clicked its bill softly while puffing out its white cheek pouches while it was being handled]. The male bird hung upside down, about 6m off the ground, but below the canopy. He quivered with his wings half open. This display was observed for less than 10 seconds, after which the bird flew off to feed. Although this observation is of such short duration we present it here because, as far as we know, the display of Loria’s Bird of Paradise is undescribed.

First published in Muruk 3(2): 52,co-authored with Jenny Hicks.

Feeding Observations of a female Crested Bird of Paradise

At 07:45 on 10 October 1987, a female Crested Bird of Paradise Cnemophilus macgregoriae was observed feeding in a shrub on the edge of the grasslands at Tari Gap, Southern Highlands Province at c.2780m. The shrub Symplocos cochinchinensis (Loureiro) S. Moore (Symplocaceae) was typical of the area standing c.4m tall and having dense foliage. The bird moved about the outer twigs of the shrub selecting small (4 x 3mm) green berries, apparently at random. The berries were hard with very little flesh covering the woody seed and were borne on short spikes amongst the leaves.

Voucher specimen at UPNG for S.cochinchinensis is Hicks & Hicks #4. I would like to thank Paul Katik for identifying the food plant.

First published in Muruk 3(1): 15

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.