Lonchura tristissima (Wallace, 1865)

Diamond, Jared & Bishop, K. David, 2021, Avifauna of the Adelbert Mountains, New Guinea: why is Fire-maned Bowerbird Sericulus bakeri the mountains’ only endemic bird species?, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 141 (1), pp. 75-108 : 98

STREAK-HEADED MANNIKIN Lonchura tristissima

We saw no mannikins in the Adelberts, but Kangarangate villagers described birds that were clearly mannikins as ‘kugursarsar’. The only mannikin known to occur in the Adelberts is the forest-edge species L. tristissima , collected by Beck and by Gilliard. Evidently, the gardenȱ andȱ grasslandȱ patchesȱ ofȱ theȱAdelbertsȱ areȱ tooȱ smallȱ andȱ recentȱ toȱ haveȱ attractedȱ any of New Guinea’s open grassland Lonchura species yet. In contrast, many areas of the Central Range and three other outliers, where dense human farming populations and open grassland have existed for centuries or millennia, each support one or two of six specialised grassland Lonchura species. We mention this to alert future visitors to look for colonisation of the Adelberts by some grassland Lonchura .

Mixed-species flocks.—Elsewhere in New Guinea ( Diamond 1987) one encounters two typesȱofȱmixed-speciesȱforagingȱflocks:ȱaȱ‘brown-black’ȱflockȱofȱmedium-sizedȱomnivores,ȱ most of them with brown and / or black plumage, and consisting especially of pitohuis, birdsȱ ofȱ paradise,ȱ drongosȱ andȱ cuckoo-shrikes;ȱ andȱ aȱ flockȱ ofȱ smallȱ insectivores.ȱ Inȱ ourȱ Adelbertȱ studiesȱ atȱ elevationsȱ aboveȱ 640ȱ mȱ weȱ encounteredȱ onlyȱ theȱ latterȱ type.ȱ Weȱ metȱ noȱ brown-blackȱ flocksȱ despiteȱ theȱ abundantȱ presenceȱ ofȱ twoȱ Pitohui species, and we encounteredȱnoȱmixed-speciesȱflocksȱofȱeitherȱtypeȱatȱtheȱhighestȱelevationsȱaboveȱ1,500ȱm.ȱ Between 1,050 and 1,415 m at both Munggur and Kangarangate, the noisiest and most regularlyȱ encounteredȱ membersȱ ofȱ smallȱ insectivoreȱ flocksȱ wereȱ Chestnut-belliedȱ Fantailȱ Rhipidura hyperythra , Black-winged Monarch Monarcha frater and Fairy Gerygone Gerygone palpebrosa , plus the pseudo-drongo Drongo Fantail Chaetorhynchus papuensis that is now consideredȱ aȱ fantailȱ(Beehlerȱ &ȱ Prattȱ 2016)ȱ andȱ usuallyȱ accompaniesȱ brown-blackȱ flocks.ȱ Otherȱ frequentȱ membersȱ ofȱ theseȱ flocksȱ wereȱ Ochre-collaredȱ Arses insularis and Fantailed Monarchs Symposiachrus axillaris , and three brown species that elsewhere accompany brown-blackȱ flocksȱ(femaleȱ Kingȱ Birdȱ ofȱ Paradiseȱ Cicinnurus magnificus , Tawny-breasted Honeyeater Xanthotis flaviventer ȱandȱLittleȱShrikethrushȱ Colluricincla megarhyncha ).