The dusky myzomela or dusky honeyeater (''Myzomela obscura'') is a small, brown bird that is a common resident of the

Aru Islands The Aru Islands Regency ( id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru) is a group of about 95 low-lying islands in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. It also forms a regency of Maluku Province, with a land area of . At the 2011 Census the Regency had a po ...

, southern

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

and northern and eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, where there are two separated populations, one in the

Top End The Top End of Australia's Northern Territory is a geographical region encompassing the northernmost section of the Northern Territory, which aside from the Cape York Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Australian continent. It covers a ra ...

, another from

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

along the east coast as far south as the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

border, though the species is rare south of

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

. The

Moluccan myzomela The Moluccan myzomela (''Myzomela simplex'') is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is endemic to Indonesia, where it is found on the Maluku Islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It was forme ...

(''M. simplex''),

red-tinged myzomela The red-tinged myzomela (''Myzomela rubrotincta'') is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the dusky myzomela ('' Myzomela obscura''), but was split as a distinct species by the IOC in 2021. It ...

(''M. rubrotincta''), and

Biak myzomela The Biak myzomela (''Myzomela rubrobrunnea'') is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the dusky myzomela ('' Myzomela obscura''), but was split as a distinct species by the IOC in 2021. It is fo ...

(''M. rubrobrunnea'') were formerly considered conspecific, but was split as distinct species by the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

in 2021. Around long, dusky myzomelas are dull-coloured but active and fast moving, often hovering to take insects or nectar from flowers in the upper storey. They inhabit a wide range of habitat types, including monsoonal forests and scrubs, woodlands, swamps and almost any area near water. Dusky myzomelas tend to be sedentary in sufficiently attractive areas, nomadic or migratory in less attractive districts, particularly in the southern part of their range. Breeding takes place in the dry season (typically March to September). The dusky myzomela normally constructs a small, neat cup nest out of fine bark, spiderwebs, and leaves, on a well-hidden branch high over water. Its

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

s are white with fine reddish spots.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q604518

dusky myzomela The dusky myzomela or dusky honeyeater (''Myzomela obscura'') is a small, brown bird that is a common resident of the Aru Islands, southern New Guinea and northern and eastern Australia, where there are two separated populations, one in the Top E ...

Birds of New Guinea Birds of the Northern Territory Birds of Queensland