Melanocharitidae
Encyclopedia
The Melanocharitidae, the berrypeckers and longbills, is a small bird
family
restricted to the forests of New Guinea
. The family contains ten species in four (sometimes three) genera
. They are small songbird
s with generally dull plumage
but a range of body shapes.
family Dicaeidae, and the longbills were once considered to be honeyeater
s (which they closely resemble). Sibley and Ahlquist placed the berrypeckers and longbill family close to the painted berrypeckers (Paramythiidae), sunbird
s and flowerpecker
s, but a 2002 study found them closer to the satinbirds (Cnemophilidae
, a recent split from the birds-of-paradise).
It comprises ten species in three genera, the Melanocharis
berrypeckers and the longbills in the genera Toxorhamphus
and Oedistoma
. There is some confusion with the common names, as there are two other berrypecker species in the tiny family Paramythiidae, once considered to be close to the flowerpeckers as well; and several Old World warbler
genera in Africa also known as longbill
s. The Spotted Berrypecker
is placed in its own genus Rhamphocharis, while some treatments lump it with the Melanocharis berrypeckers it is anatomically and behaviourally distinct.
in greys, browns or black and white. The berrypeckers exhibit some sexual dimorphism
in their plumage. In addition the Fan-tailed
and Streaked Berrypecker
s are unusual amongst passerine
birds in showing sexual dimorphism in size were the female is longer and heavier than the male. The berrypeckers resemble stout short-billed honeyeater
s, and the longbills are like drab sunbird
s or short-tailed honeyeaters. The calls of the berrypeckers have been described as high pitched and faint, and the song rapid.
, being found in lowland forest. In contrast the longbills live in lowland forests and low montane forests as well as on small islands around New Guinea. Amongst the berrypeckers there is a succession of species at different altitudes, with the Black Berrypecker being found in the lowlands, the Mid-mountain Berrypecker being found at lower altitudes (mid-montane) and the Fan-tailed Berrypecker being found near the treeline.
s, but are loose members and not core species. The diet of the family is dominated by berries and small fruits. Arthropod
s are also gleaned
from foliage, and more rarely by hovering and snatching. They are highly active feeders, seldom pausing except when at berries. Most species feed in the lower and middle levels of the forest, although records suggest that the Obscure Berrypecker will enter the canopy to forage. The male Black Berrypecker will also enter the canopy, while the female will remain lower down in the forest, suggesting some level of sexual segregation of feeding niches.
The breeding of some species is entirely undescribed, and little is known about the breeding in most species. Records of nests have been made in both wet and dry seasons. They build a cup nest, usually on a forked branch near the edge of a tree, out of fern
scales and plant fibres bound neatly with insect or spider silk and ornamented with lichen
s. Little is known about the division of labour in the family, although the pattern exhibited by the Black Berrypecker
, where the female construct the nest alone but both sexes feed the young, may be typical of the family. They lay one or two eggs.
The berrypeckers and longbills are not considered to be threatened by human activities. No species is listed as threatened by the IUCN, although one species, the Obscure Berrypecker
, is listed as data deficient
. That species is known officially from two collected specimens, but unconfirmed reports suggest that it is not uncommon in remote parts of New Guinea.
The Pygmy Longbill is sometimes included in the genus Toxorhamphus.
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
restricted to the forests of New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
. The family contains ten species in four (sometimes three) genera
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
. They are small songbird
Songbird
A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds . Another name that is sometimes seen as scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin oscen, "a songbird"...
s with generally dull plumage
Plumage
Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...
but a range of body shapes.
Taxonomy and systematics
The identification of the family Melanocharitidae was not known or suspected until the work of Sibley and Ahlquist on the taxonomy of birds using DNA-DNA hybridization The genera had been instead placed with other families. The two genera of berrypecker had been placed inside the FlowerpeckerFlowerpecker
The flowerpeckers are a family, Dicaeidae , of passerine birds. The family comprises two genera, Prionochilus and Dicaeum, with 44 species in total. The family has sometimes been included in an enlarged sunbird family Nectariniidae. The berrypeckers of the family Melanocharitidae and the painted...
family Dicaeidae, and the longbills were once considered to be honeyeater
Honeyeater
The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family of small to medium sized birds most common in Australia and New Guinea, but also found in New Zealand, the Pacific islands as far east as Samoa and Tonga, and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea known as Wallacea...
s (which they closely resemble). Sibley and Ahlquist placed the berrypeckers and longbill family close to the painted berrypeckers (Paramythiidae), sunbird
Sunbird
The sunbirds and spiderhunters are a family, Nectariniidae, of very small passerine birds. There are 132 species in 15 genera. The family is distributed throughout Africa, southern Asia and just reaches northern Australia. Most sunbirds feed largely on nectar, but also take insects and spiders,...
s and flowerpecker
Flowerpecker
The flowerpeckers are a family, Dicaeidae , of passerine birds. The family comprises two genera, Prionochilus and Dicaeum, with 44 species in total. The family has sometimes been included in an enlarged sunbird family Nectariniidae. The berrypeckers of the family Melanocharitidae and the painted...
s, but a 2002 study found them closer to the satinbirds (Cnemophilidae
Cnemophilidae
The Satinbirds or Cnemophilines, Cnemophilidae are a group of passerine birds which consists of three species found in the mountain forests of New Guinea...
, a recent split from the birds-of-paradise).
It comprises ten species in three genera, the Melanocharis
Melanocharis
Melanocharis is a genus of bird in the Melanocharitidae family.It contains the following species:* Spotted Berrypecker * Lemon-breasted Berrypecker * Black Berrypecker...
berrypeckers and the longbills in the genera Toxorhamphus
Toxorhamphus
Toxorhamphus is a genus of bird in the Melanocharitidae family. They are commonly known as longbills and were once thought to be in the honeyeater family...
and Oedistoma
Pygmy Longbill
The Pygmy Longbill or Pygmy Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Melanocharitidae family...
. There is some confusion with the common names, as there are two other berrypecker species in the tiny family Paramythiidae, once considered to be close to the flowerpeckers as well; and several Old World warbler
Old World warbler
The "Old World Warblers" is the name used to describe a large group of birds formerly grouped together in the bird family Sylviidae. The family held over 400 species in over 70 genera, and were the source of much taxonomic confusion. Two families were split out initially, the cisticolas into...
genera in Africa also known as longbill
Longbill
Longbill can refer to:*One of two species of longbill in the bird family Melanocharitidae*One of six species of longbill, African "warblers" in the genera Macrosphenus and Amaurocichla*The longbill spearfish, a species of marlin...
s. The Spotted Berrypecker
Spotted Berrypecker
The Spotted Berrypecker is a species of bird in the berrypecker and longbill family Melanocharitidae. Although it is sometimes placed in the genus Melanocharis with the other berrypeckers in the family, it s now treated as distinct enough to merit a monotypic genus, Rhamphocharis.It is found in...
is placed in its own genus Rhamphocharis, while some treatments lump it with the Melanocharis berrypeckers it is anatomically and behaviourally distinct.
Description
These are medium-sized birds, rangng in length from 7.5 to 15cm. The berrypeckers (Melanocharis are usually bigger than the Toxorhamphus and Oedistoma lonbills.) which feed on fruit and on insects and other invertebrates. They have drab-coloured plumagePlumage
Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...
in greys, browns or black and white. The berrypeckers exhibit some sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...
in their plumage. In addition the Fan-tailed
Fan-tailed Berrypecker
The Fan-tailed Berrypecker is a species of bird in the Melanocharitidae family.It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests....
and Streaked Berrypecker
Streaked Berrypecker
The Streaked Berrypecker is a species of bird in the Melanocharitidae family.It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea....
s are unusual amongst passerine
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
birds in showing sexual dimorphism in size were the female is longer and heavier than the male. The berrypeckers resemble stout short-billed honeyeater
Honeyeater
The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family of small to medium sized birds most common in Australia and New Guinea, but also found in New Zealand, the Pacific islands as far east as Samoa and Tonga, and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea known as Wallacea...
s, and the longbills are like drab sunbird
Sunbird
The sunbirds and spiderhunters are a family, Nectariniidae, of very small passerine birds. There are 132 species in 15 genera. The family is distributed throughout Africa, southern Asia and just reaches northern Australia. Most sunbirds feed largely on nectar, but also take insects and spiders,...
s or short-tailed honeyeaters. The calls of the berrypeckers have been described as high pitched and faint, and the song rapid.
Distribution and habitat
The berrypeckers are generally montane species, with only one, the Black BerrypeckerBlack Berrypecker
The Black Berrypecker is a species of bird in the Melanocharitidae family.It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.-References:...
, being found in lowland forest. In contrast the longbills live in lowland forests and low montane forests as well as on small islands around New Guinea. Amongst the berrypeckers there is a succession of species at different altitudes, with the Black Berrypecker being found in the lowlands, the Mid-mountain Berrypecker being found at lower altitudes (mid-montane) and the Fan-tailed Berrypecker being found near the treeline.
Behaviour
Melanocharitidae species are usually seen alone or in pairs. They may associate with mixed-species feeding flockMixed-species feeding flock
A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species, that join each other and move together while foraging...
s, but are loose members and not core species. The diet of the family is dominated by berries and small fruits. Arthropod
Arthropod
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
s are also gleaned
Gleaning (birds)
Gleaning is a term for a feeding strategy by birds in which they catch invertebrate prey, mainly arthropods, by plucking them from foliage or the ground, from crevices such as rock faces and under the eaves of houses, or even, as in the case of ticks and lice, from living animals. This behavior is...
from foliage, and more rarely by hovering and snatching. They are highly active feeders, seldom pausing except when at berries. Most species feed in the lower and middle levels of the forest, although records suggest that the Obscure Berrypecker will enter the canopy to forage. The male Black Berrypecker will also enter the canopy, while the female will remain lower down in the forest, suggesting some level of sexual segregation of feeding niches.
The breeding of some species is entirely undescribed, and little is known about the breeding in most species. Records of nests have been made in both wet and dry seasons. They build a cup nest, usually on a forked branch near the edge of a tree, out of fern
Fern
A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...
scales and plant fibres bound neatly with insect or spider silk and ornamented with lichen
Lichen
Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...
s. Little is known about the division of labour in the family, although the pattern exhibited by the Black Berrypecker
Black Berrypecker
The Black Berrypecker is a species of bird in the Melanocharitidae family.It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.-References:...
, where the female construct the nest alone but both sexes feed the young, may be typical of the family. They lay one or two eggs.
The berrypeckers and longbills are not considered to be threatened by human activities. No species is listed as threatened by the IUCN, although one species, the Obscure Berrypecker
Obscure Berrypecker
The Obscure Berrypecker, Melanocharis arfakiana, is a small passerine bird from the berrypecker family Melanocharitidae. It was described by the German ornithologist Friedrich Finsch based on a specimen collected on the island of New Guinea ; collected in 1867 in the Arfak Mountains...
, is listed as data deficient
Data Deficient
Data Deficient is a category applied by the IUCN, other agencies, and individuals to a species when the available information is not sufficient for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made...
. That species is known officially from two collected specimens, but unconfirmed reports suggest that it is not uncommon in remote parts of New Guinea.
Species
- MelanocharisMelanocharisMelanocharis is a genus of bird in the Melanocharitidae family.It contains the following species:* Spotted Berrypecker * Lemon-breasted Berrypecker * Black Berrypecker...
, SclaterPhilip SclaterPhilip Lutley Sclater was an English lawyer and zoologist. In zoology, he was an expert ornithologist, and identified the main zoogeographic regions of the world...
, 1858- Obscure BerrypeckerObscure BerrypeckerThe Obscure Berrypecker, Melanocharis arfakiana, is a small passerine bird from the berrypecker family Melanocharitidae. It was described by the German ornithologist Friedrich Finsch based on a specimen collected on the island of New Guinea ; collected in 1867 in the Arfak Mountains...
, Melanocharis arfakiana - Black BerrypeckerBlack BerrypeckerThe Black Berrypecker is a species of bird in the Melanocharitidae family.It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.-References:...
, Melanocharis nigra - Mid-mountain Berrypecker, Melanocharis longicauda
- Fan-tailed BerrypeckerFan-tailed BerrypeckerThe Fan-tailed Berrypecker is a species of bird in the Melanocharitidae family.It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests....
, Melanocharis versteri - Streaked BerrypeckerStreaked BerrypeckerThe Streaked Berrypecker is a species of bird in the Melanocharitidae family.It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea....
, Melanocharis striativentris
- Obscure Berrypecker
- Rhamphocharis, SalvadoriTommaso SalvadoriCount Adelardo Tommaso Salvadori Paleotti was an Italian zoologist and ornithologist.Salvadori was born in Porto San Giorgio, son of Count Luigi Salvadori and Ethel. He took an early interest in birds and published a catalogue of the birds of Sardinia in 1862...
, 1876- Spotted BerrypeckerSpotted BerrypeckerThe Spotted Berrypecker is a species of bird in the berrypecker and longbill family Melanocharitidae. Although it is sometimes placed in the genus Melanocharis with the other berrypeckers in the family, it s now treated as distinct enough to merit a monotypic genus, Rhamphocharis.It is found in...
, Melanocharis crassirostris
- Spotted Berrypecker
- ToxorhamphusToxorhamphusToxorhamphus is a genus of bird in the Melanocharitidae family. They are commonly known as longbills and were once thought to be in the honeyeater family...
, StresemannErwin StresemannErwin Stresemann was a German naturalist and ornithologist.Stresemann was one of the outstanding ornithologists of the 20th century...
, 1914- Yellow-bellied Longbill, Toxorhamphus novaeguineae
- Slaty-headed Longbill, Toxorhamphus poliopterus
- Dwarf Longbill, Toxorhamphus iliolophus
- OedistomaPygmy LongbillThe Pygmy Longbill or Pygmy Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Melanocharitidae family...
, SalvadoriTommaso SalvadoriCount Adelardo Tommaso Salvadori Paleotti was an Italian zoologist and ornithologist.Salvadori was born in Porto San Giorgio, son of Count Luigi Salvadori and Ethel. He took an early interest in birds and published a catalogue of the birds of Sardinia in 1862...
, 1876- Pygmy LongbillPygmy LongbillThe Pygmy Longbill or Pygmy Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Melanocharitidae family...
, Oedistoma pygmaeum
- Pygmy Longbill
The Pygmy Longbill is sometimes included in the genus Toxorhamphus.