Common, especially in the north. Sedentary or locally nomadic.
Habitat
Dense forests in coastal areas of tropical and subtropical zones, including islands. Mainly rainforests and monsoon forests, but also in riparian forests, paperbark woodlands and mangroves, with a thick mid-strey and usually sparse ground-cover.
Habits
Singly, or in pairs, occasionally in small flocks, and often associated with other species of honeyeater, including Scarlet Honeyeater (Myzomela sanguinolenta) and Red-headed Honeyeater (Myzomela erythrocephala).
Food
Insects and nectar.
Voice
An obscure squeak, 'see-see'. A mournful whistle. High-pitched trilling, tzizzing, chatterings. Winnowing scoldings.
Nest
Small, frail, cup-shaped, composed of rootlets, thin grasses and sometimes hair, suspended near the end of a leafy branch of a tree or bush.
Eggs (Guide)
2; slightly lustrous, white freckled with pale and dark rust-red, particularly at the larger end; oval; about 17 x 13 mm.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fed by both parents after fledging.
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Drab Myzomela (Myzomela blasii), White-chinned Myzomela (Myzomela albigula), Ruby-throated Myzomela (Myzomela eques) and Ashy Myzomela (Myzomela cineracea). Birds on Pulu Adi (south-western New Guinea) of uncertain racial identity and provisionally included in fumata.
Proposed subspecies munna from north-eastern Australia (Cape York, in northern Queensland) is synonymous with harterti.
The following 8 subspecies are recognised:
obscura Gould, 1843 - Coastal and subcoastal Arnhem Land, NT, including Tiwi Island.
fumata (Bonaparte, 1850) - In Torres Strait, and southern New Guinea.
harterti Mathews, 1911 - Coastal and subcoastal Queensland, south to Moreton Bay, north to Cape York Peninsula and southern and central Torres Strait.
mortyana Hartert, 1903 - Morotai, off northern Halmahera.
simplex Gray, GR, 1861 - Halmahera, Ternate, Tidore, Kasiruta, Bacan and Damar (Northern Moluccas). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Moluccan Myzomela (Myzomela simplex).
rubrotincta Salvadori, 1878 - Obi and Bisa, in northern Moluccas. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Obi Myzomela (Myzomela rubrotincta).
rubrobrunnea Meyer, AB, 1874 - Biak Island, in Geelvink Bay (North-western New Guinea). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Red-brown Myzomela (Myzomela rubrobrunnea).
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet