Animalia Life

Melidectes belfordi
TAXONOMY
Melirrhophetes belfordi De Vis, 1890, Mount Knutsford, New Guinea. Seven subspecies.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Belford’s honeyeater; French: Mйliphage de Belford; German: Belfordhonigfresser; Spanish: Pбjaro Miel de Belford.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
10.7 in (27 cm); female 2.1 oz (60 g), male 2.6 oz (74 g). Light blue bare face skin and whitish wattles. Crown, lores, cheeks, and throat black, with white brow stripe and broad white streaks at side of throat. Gray underparts with brownish belly and undertail.
DISTRIBUTION
Central ranges of New Guinea from 5,250 to 12,500 ft (1,600 to 3,800 m). They also hybridize with yellow-browed melidectes (M. rufocrissalis) in the eastern part of range.
HABITAT
Mountain rainforests, extending into pockets of shrubbery in subalpine grasslands.
BEHAVIOR
Boisterous and aggressive toward other species at flowering trees. Sail across openings with wings held widely spread, with infrequent flaps. Noisy, loud, and repeated calls, with gurgling, coughing, cackling, cawing, and piping notes.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Feed in canopy on nectar, arthropods, and some fruit. Glean from vines and foliage and probe into moss and epiphytes.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Breeding season April to July or later. The deep cup-shaped nest is made of moss, twigs, and hairs from the fronds of tree ferns. Egg apparently undescribed.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.

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