Blue-faced Parrotfinch (Erythrura trichroa) [XC409174]
by from Rondon Ridge, Mount Hagen, Dei District, Western Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea (call)
Blue-faced Parrotfinch (Erythrura trichroa) [XC653636]
by Marc Anderson from Mt. Lewis, Julatten, Queensland, Australia (uncertain)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Mainly November - April, but can be earlier or later depending on seasonal conditions.
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Nest
Neat, rounded, with a small side-entrance, composed of fiber or grass lined with soft materials, in shrubs or mango tree.
Eggs (Guide)
3 - 4; pure white; oval; about 18 x 13 mm. Incubation: about 12 - 14 days; by both sexes.
Subspecies
Sometimes placed with Red-eared Parrotfinch (Erythrura coloria) and Papuan Parrotfinch (Erythrura papuana) in a separate genus, Trichroa. Has been thought possibly to form a superspecies with Red-eared Parrotfinch (Erythrura coloria) and Tricoloured Parrotfinch (Erythrura tricolor). Subspecific epithet cyanofrons sometimes spelt as "cyanifrons" or "cyaneifrons", but present spelling has priority.
Proposed subspecies macgillivrayi, described from north-eastern Australia (Lloyd I, off north-eastern Queensland), apparently indistinguishable in plumage or size from birds of this species in New Guinea and therefore treated as synonymous with sigillifera.
Subspecies, sigillifera (macgillivrayi?), in Australia.
The following 11 subspecies are recognised:
trichroa (Kittlitz, 1835) - Kosrae.
sanfordi Stresemann, 1931 - North-central and south-central Sulawesi.
clara Taka-Tsukasa & Yamashina, 1931 - Chuuk (Truk) Is and Pohnpei Is, in eastern Caroline Islands.
sigillifera (De Vis, 1897) - New Guinea and some offshore islands (Manam I, Karkar I, D'Entrecasteaux Is and Louisiade Archipelago), Bismarck Archipelago (Umboi I, New Britain, New Ireland, Feni Is) and north-eastern Australia (north-eastern Queensland).
eichhorni Hartert, 1924 - St Matthias Is (in northern Bismarck Archipelago).
woodfordi Rothschild & Hartert, 1900 - Bougainville I and Solomon Is (Kolombangara, Guadalcanal).
cyanofrons Layard, EL, 1878 - Vanuatu (including Banks Is) and Loyalty Is.
macgillivrayi Mathews, 1914 - Eastern coastal Cape York Peninsula, south to Cairns and Atherton-Evelyn Tablelands, north-eastern Queensland. Questionably distinct from subspecies sigillifera.
Similar Species
Gouldian Finch (Chloebia gouldiae) which is generally more colorful, lacks a red tail and has either a black, orange or red face and a pale bill.
Compare Images
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