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Paperbark Flycatcher Myiagra nana Scientific name definitions

Phil Gregory
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 21, 2020

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

18·5 cm; 13·5 g. Male is entirely black above, crown and back with dark blue gloss, and white below, sometimes a variable pale peachy-buff wash on chest; flight-feathers have broad pale greyish bases (visible in flight); iris dark brown; bill blue-grey, upper mandible edged and tipped dark; legs black. Distinguished from very similar M. inquieta by smaller size (c. 10% smaller), proportionately shorter bill, blacker-looking upperparts. Female is very like male, but more dark slate-grey above with contrasting glossy black crown and dull mid-grey lores. Immature is similar to adult but duller, paler, with buffy wash on breast, whitish tips on upperwing-coverts.

Systematics History

Previously treated as conspecific with M. inquieta, and recent molecular evidence tends to support this option (1, 2); however, application of Tobias criteria to differences registered in the literature suggest species status may yet be appropriate (and therefore provisionally retained here), involving considerably smaller size (effect size for male wing using largest samples in published data (3) –6.78, score 3); “much darker upperparts” in male (3) (1); bill width not proportionately reduced (on published data (3) ), thus appearing broader-based (4) (allow 1); rictal bristles proportionately longer (two-thirds vs less than half the length of bill) and thicker (4) (allow 1); and a much more frequently delivered “tuuiii” call, with a second call contextually more restricted (4) (allow 1); all these characters (even the wing mensural data, which may not reflect the situation where the taxa most closely approach each other) are tentatively scored and require validation. Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

S New Guinea (S Trans-Fly including Dolak I, inland to L Ambuve, L Pangua, L Daviumbu and Obo; Saibai I) and N Australia (from N Western Australia E, mainly in coastal areas, to SW Cape York area of NW Queensland).

Habitat

Usually near water. Tropical eucalypt (Eucalyptus) savanna woodland, paperbark (Melaleuca) woodland, riverine woodland, billabongs, pandanus thickets, scrub and sedge beds bordering rivers in grassy floodplains.

Movement

Sedentary.

Diet and Foraging

Arthopods; diet includes spiders (Araneae) and centipedes (Chilopoda), as well as insects. Forages singly or in pairs, and generally near water. Often hovers over water, shrubs or tall grass; sweeps spread tail from side to side. Often tame.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

A loud, slightly upslurred musical whistled series, “chee-whee chee whee”, frequently given, often in flight; can be faster or as a more grating version. Also, a distinctive rattly short grinding “whishtt”, singly or as a series, and seemingly the equivalent of the lengthy scissors-grinding series of M. inquieta.

Breeding

Laying Aug–April; can be triple-brooded. Nest built by both sexes, a cup of bark shreds and grass, placed in upright fork of dead sapling or shrub close to water at height of 1–6 m; a nest in New Guinea (Ambuve, on middle R Fly) was a simple cup of grass stems and fibres built more than 2 m above ground on wooden roof support of abandoned bush hut. Clutch 3–4 eggs, occasionally 1; both sexes incubate eggs and tend chicks; no definite information on duration of incubation and nestling periods.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not assessed. Generally common in suitable habitat. In New Guinea formerly known only from Saibai I (Australian territory, where perhaps a vagrant), and R Bensbach area, but recently found to occur on middle R Fly at Ambuve and Obo, a considerable range extension.
Distribution of the Paperbark Flycatcher - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Paperbark Flycatcher

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Gregory, P. (2020). Paperbark Flycatcher (Myiagra nana), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.papfly1.01
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