Sooty Melidectes (Melidectes fuscus) [XC395243]
by id from Road to Lake Habbema c3300m, Indonesia (call)
Sooty Melidectes (Melidectes fuscus) [XC395242]
by JACOB Herv\u00e9 from Road to Lake Habbema c3300m, Indonesia (call)
Subspecies
Study of relationships within genus needed. Present species sometimes placed with Short-bearded Honeyeater (Melidectes nouhuysi) and Long-bearded Honeyeater (Melidectes princeps) in a separate genus, Melionyx and all three, along with Bismarck Honeyeater (Vosea whitemanensis), comprise a group of medium-sized species that differ from others in genus in size, morphology, plumage and voice. Birds in Eastern Highlands proposed as a separate subspecies, gilliardi (described from Mt Wilhelm, in Bismarck Range), but intermediate geographically and morphologically between occidentalis and nominate, and synonymized with latter.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
occidentalis (De Vis, 1897) - Central Ranges of New Guinea, from Snow Mts (Nassau Range and Oranje Mts) east to eastern Highlands (Mt Hagen, Mt Wilhelm, and Mt Giluwe and Kubor Range).
fuscus (De Vis, 1897) - Mountains of south-eastern New Guinea east from eastern Highlands.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet