Norfolk Island Gerygone Gerygone modesta Scientific name definitions

9·5–12·3 cm; c. 7 g. Plumage is olive-brown above, with pale grey face, white broken eyering, small dark patch in front of eye; tail with broad blackish subterminal band, all rectrices except central pair with dark-edged white spots near tip, spots increasing in size outwards; chin, throat and breast pale grey, rest of underparts whitish, buff wash on flanks to undertail-coverts; axillaries white; iris red-brown to bright red; bill black; legs black to grey-brown or brown, soles yellowish. Sexes alike. Juvenile has yellowish eyering, yellow wash on face and underparts, darker brownish iris and paler bill.

Norfolk I (including vegetated N islets), E of Australia.

Inhabits rainforest, secondary growth, hedgerows, pastureland with remnant vegetation and gardens. Seems to avoid remnant Norfolk pines (Araucaria heterophylla) that are present in farmland.

Sedentary.

Insectivorous. Forages mainly in canopy of trees and shrubs, darting about actively between bouts of hover-gleaning; also gleans insects from foliage, probes tree bark, and often feeds on ground. Tame and confiding.

Song a melodious warbling, with ending slurred, similar in character to those of congeners, but ending less emphatically than song of G. igata.

Recorded Nov–Feb; probably double-brooded. Nest pear-shaped, domed, with side entrance near top, made from bark, grass, moss, fibrous roots, spider webs, cow hair or wool, lined with feathers, suspended from slender branch on outer edge of canopy. Clutch 2–4 eggs, white to light pinkish with red streaks, blotches or spots; no information on duration of incubation and nestling periods; nestlings fed by both parents, fledglings fed for several weeks after leaving nest. Nests parasitized by Shining Bronze-cuckoo (Chalcites lucidus). Main nest predator is black rat (Rattus rattus).

Not globally threatened: currently considered Near Threatened. Restricted-range species: present in Norfolk Island EBA. Common. Estimated global population c. 10,000 mature individuals (4 Garnett, S. T., J. K. Szabo, and G. Dutson (2011). The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria, Australia. Close ) BirdLife International (2015) Species factsheet: Gerygone modesta. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 05/06/2015. . The most abundant native bird species; has adapted well to modified habitats on a small island that has feral cats and black rats (siting of nest in canopy probably helps to reduce predation by rats). Remaining stands of good-quality forest on the island are protected within Norfolk Island National Park. Previously assessed as Vulnerable, its population is now known to larger than feared and to be stable or increasing with no serious threats (4 Garnett, S. T., J. K. Szabo, and G. Dutson (2011). The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria, Australia. Close , 5 Dutson, G. (2013). Population densities and conservation status of Norfolk Island forest birds. Bird Conservation International. 23(3): 271–282. Close ) BirdLife International (2015) Species factsheet: Gerygone modesta. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 05/06/2015. ; it was therefore downlisted in 2012. The species is absent from Nepean I and Philip I, off S coast of Norfolk I. One suggestion is to introduce present species to Lord Howe I, where native G. insularis is extinct; if successful, this could supply a security reserve population; eradication of rats from Lord Howe I would be desirable, even though present species survives on Norfolk I despite presence of rats.