MacGregor's honeyeater (''Macgregoria pulchra'') also known as giant wattled honeyeater, MacGregor's giant honeyeater, MacGregor's bird of paradise, and ochre-winged honeyeater, is a large (up to 40 cm long) black crow-like bird with large orange-yellow eye-wattles and black-tipped,

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

primary wing feathers. The sexes are similar, with the male being slightly larger than the female. It is the only member of the genus ''Macgregoria''. A

monogamous Monogamy ( ) is a form of Dyad (sociology), dyadic Intimate relationship, relationship in which an individual has only one Significant other, partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (Monogamy#Serial monogamy, ...

species, it inhabits subalpine forest of New Guinea. The diet consists mainly of fruits. This puzzling and little-known species has traditionally been considered a bird-of-paradise, but is actually a

honeyeater The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family (biology), family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Epthianura, Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, Manorina, miners and melidectes. They are ...

. Recent genetic evidence on MacGregor's honeyeater confirms that it belongs to the family Meliphagidae. It is similar and closely related to the

smoky honeyeater There are two species of bird named smoky honeyeater. * Common smoky honeyeater, ''Melipotes fumigatus'' * Wattled smoky honeyeater The wattled smoky honeyeater or Foja honeyeater (''Melipotes carolae'') is a species of honeyeater with a sooty ...

. The name commemorates its discoverer, the administrator of British New Guinea, Sir William MacGregor. Sir William's surname was originally, and thus formally, McGregor but he adopted the spelling MacGregor while in New Guinea as his personal preference. Due to a small and declining population, MacGregor's honeyeater is evaluated as

vulnerable Vulnerable may refer to: General * Vulnerability * Vulnerability (computing) * Vulnerable adult * Vulnerable species Music Albums * ''Vulnerable'' (Marvin Gaye album), 1997 * ''Vulnerable'' (Tricky album), 2003 * ''Vulnerable'' (The Used album) ...

on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.

Distribution and habitat

MacGregor's honeyeater is found on the island of New Guinea, where it inhabits

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

and subalpine '' Dacrycarpus'' forest at elevations of . It is commonly observed in ''Dacrycarpus'' groves when the trees are fruiting, but relatively little is known about where it removes to when the trees are not fruiting.

Breeding

MacGregor's honeyeater is a monogamous breeder. Pairs build their nest in the crowns of trees. The nest is a bulky cup of moss, lichen and sticks, lined with small leaves and stems. One pink and spotted egg is laid.

References

External links

*ARKive
images and movies of the Macgregor's bird of paradise ''(Macgregoria pulchra)''
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20061013131201/http://www.rdb.or.id/detailbird.php?id=14 Red Data Book {{Taxonbar, from=Q863168

MacGregor's honeyeater MacGregor's honeyeater (''Macgregoria pulchra'') also known as giant wattled honeyeater, MacGregor's giant honeyeater, MacGregor's bird of paradise, and ochre-winged honeyeater, is a large (up to 40 cm long) black crow-like bird with large o ...

Birds of New Guinea