The common smoky honeyeater (Melipotes fumigatus) is a medium-sized bird found in central

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

and Eastern

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It is one of four species in the Meliphagidae family. The common smoky honeyeater can be identified by its charcoal-colored body and blotchy neon orange circle around its eyes. This bird breeds in September and October, which are considered dry seasons. Its diet consists of small fruits, insects, and floral plants. This bird breeds in September and early October above ground or next to a tree branch.

Description

The common smoky honeyeater has a bright orange splotch around both eyes. The bird's upper wing has brown tips, olive-colored edges, and a lighter shade of brown on the base of its wings. This bird has a brown and black base. The common smoky honeyeater has a brown belly with white crescent-shaped scaling and gray and brown legs. The best way to differentiate between males and females is to look at their size because male common smoky honeyeaters tend to be bigger than females.

Habitat

Its habitat is in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

, specifically in Eastern

and Central

. It soars at altitudes around 1,400 to 3,400 meters. However, the females and males tend to live at different altitude levels. The females live much higher in the mountains, at around 2,160 to 2,490 meters. The males typically live anywhere between 1,830 and 2,160 meters. During the common smoky honeyeater's migration season, they descend to the mountains of Papua New Guinea, anywhere from 750 to 1,200 meters in altitude.

Vocalization

The common smoky honeyeater makes a "sit-sit-sit" or a faint "swift-swift-swift" sound. When it is near the young, it makes a "wheat-wheat-wheat" to alarm other common smoky honeyeaters.

Diet and foraging

The common smoky honeyeater primarily eats raw

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

and fruit-like

produce Produce is a generalized term for many farm-produced crops, including fruits and vegetables (grains, oats, etc. are also sometimes considered ''produce''). More specifically, the term ''produce'' often implies that the products are fresh and g ...

, but they have been observed eating various

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s and

floral A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

parts. Despite its name,

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

is not a part of its diet because the common smoky honeyeater only eats fruit, insects, and floral plants. This bird consumes fruits that are typically 2 to 8 millimeters in diameter. Common smoky honeyeaters peck at flowers that attract insects as a method to find food. This bird strikes on insects by rushing at insects with its nose down. The common smoky honeyeater is also known for driving other

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

away from its feeding sites. It does this by chasing away other birds, such as the Superb Bird-of-Paradise.

Breeding

The common smoky honeyeater breeds above ground or near the end of a branch off a small tree. Their

breeding season Seasonal breeders are animal species that successfully mate only during certain times of the year. These times of year allow for the optimization of survival of young due to factors such as ambient temperature, food and water availability, and cha ...

aligns with New Guinea's

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...

, which is in September and early

October October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and the sixth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus , October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ''ôct ...

. Its nest consists mainly of

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

and other plant material. One nest was observed to be 14 centimeters wide and 14 centimeters deep. Typically, their nests are 4.5 to 12 meters above ground.

References