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Norfolk Island Gerygone - BirdForum Opus

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Alternative name: Norfolk Gerygone; Norfolk Flyeater; Norfolk Island Flyeater

Gerygone modesta

Identification

9.5 to 12.3 cm

  • Olive-brown uppperparts with pale grey face
  • White broken eyering, small dark patch in front of eye
  • Broad blackish subterminal band on tail, all rectrices except central pair with dark-edged white spots near tip, spots increasing in size outwards
  • Pale grey chin, throat and breast
  • Whitish rest of underparts with buff wash on flanks to undertail-coverts

Sexes similar, juveniles with yellowish eyering, yellow wash on face and underparts and paler bill.

Distribution

Endemic to Norfolk Island, Australia.
A restricted-range species. The most common native bird species on Norfolk.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species.
Considered a subspecies of Grey Gerygone by some authorities.

Habitat

Found in forest, moist shrubland, and pastureland with some remnant vegetation and gardens. Avoids Norfolk pines.

Behaviour

Diet

Feeds on insects.
Forages in the canopy of threes and shrubs. Gleans insects from foliage, probes on tree bark and often on ground. Rather tame and confiding.

Breeding

Breeding season from November to February, probably two broods. The nest is a pear-shaped dome with a side entrance near the top. It's made of bark, grass, moss, roots, spider wegs, cow hair and feathers and suspended from a slender branch on the outer edge of the canopy. Lays 2 to 4 eggs. Parasitized by Shining Bronze-Cuckoo and often predated by Black Rat.

Movements

This is a sedentary species.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2015. IOC World Bird Names (version 5.2). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
  3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved June 2015)

Recommended Citation

External Links

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