Madanga Anthus ruficollis Scientific name definitions

This poorly known, enigmatic songbird is endemic to Buru in the Southern Moluccas, where it inhabits montane forests. Long thought to be a white-eye in the family Zosteropidae, recent genetic work has shown that this small songbird is in fact most closely related to pipits in the genus Anthus, where it is actually embedded within the genus (1 Alström, P., K. A. Jønsson, J. Fjeldså, A. Ödeen, P. G. P. Ericson, and M. Irestedt (2015). Dramatic niche shifts and morphological change in two insular bird species. Royal Society Open Science 2: 140364. Close ). Madanga departs from the appearance of "traditional" pipits, trading in the more typical brown, streaked plumage for uniform olive upperparts, solid gray underparts, and a distinct rufous chin and throat. It feeds on insects and other invertebrates and is described as foraging like nuthatches (family Sittidae) along branches and trunks (2 Reeve, A. H., T. Haryoko, M. K. Poulsen, P.-H. Fabre, and K. A. Jønsson (2014). New ornithological records from Buru and Seram, south Maluku, Indonesia, 1995–2012. Forktail 30: 10–22. Close , 1 Alström, P., K. A. Jønsson, J. Fjeldså, A. Ödeen, P. G. P. Ericson, and M. Irestedt (2015). Dramatic niche shifts and morphological change in two insular bird species. Royal Society Open Science 2: 140364. Close ). Very little is known about the life history of Madanga, and nothing is known of its breeding biology.

13 cm. The Madanga is an attractive bird with olive green upperparts and gray underparts. The throat is orange, with white under the bill. Its irides are black. Its bill is blackish terminally and paler on the lower mandible, and its legs are pale brownish.

The Madanga is distinctive within its range and unlikely to be confused with other species.

Juvenile

Juvenile plumage undescribed.

Adult

The adult has a light grayish-olive crown, sides of the head , and nape. It is paler on the forehead and lores. It has a rudimentary pale eye ring consisting of very short scaly feathers. The upperparts are yellowish green, and the remiges and rectrices are browner with green edges. The throat and upper chest are bright cinnamon rufous, and the rest of the underparts are dark grayish olive. The undertail coverts are yellowish brown. Sexes are alike but the female is considerably smaller.

Bill

The bill is blackish terminally and paler on the lower mandible (3 Rothschild, W., and E. J. O. Hartert (1923). A new bird from Buru. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 43: 117–118. Close ).

Iris and Facial Skin

The irides are very dark brown, appearing blackish in the field.

Tarsi and Toes

The legs are pale brownish (3 Rothschild, W., and E. J. O. Hartert (1923). A new bird from Buru. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 43: 117–118. Close ).

Madanga ruficollis Rothschild and Hartert, 1923, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 43:118. Type locality given as Wa Fehat, 2,700 feet, on Buru Island, Moluccas, Indonesia (3 Rothschild, W., and E. J. O. Hartert (1923). A new bird from Buru. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 43: 117–118. Close ).

The type specimen, an adult male, was collected by the Pratt brothers, on 14 April 1922. The holotype is held at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH 701487). The three paratypes (AMNH 701488, AMNH 701489, AMNH 701490), also collected by the Pratt brothers, were collected between 8–11 April 1922, and are held at the American Museum of Natural History (4 LeCroy, M. (2011). Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Part 9. Passeriformes: Zosteropidae and Meliphagidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 348:1–193. Close ).

Madanga has always been a bit of a taxonomic enigma, but was long placed with the white-eyes in the family Zosteropidae. Mayr (5 Mayr, E. (1967). "Family Zosteropidae (Indo-Australian taxa)." In Check-list of birds of the world, edited by Jr R. A. Paynter, 289-325. Cambridge, MA: Mus. Comp. Zool. Close ) suggested that it might need to be merged, together with the genera Tephrozosterops, Lophozosterops, and Oculocincta, into the genus Heleia, as he felt these genera formed a natural group. Indeed, Lophozosterops and Oculocincta have since been merged into Heleia (6 Dickinson, E. C., and L. Christidis, Editors (2014). The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Fourth Edition. Volume 2. Aves Press, Eastbourne, UK. Close , 7 Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood (2021). The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, USA. Close ), but genetic work has shown that Madanga does not belong with that group, and in fact is not even in the family Zosteropidae, instead falling out within the radiation of pipits in the genus Anthus in the family Motacillidae (1 Alström, P., K. A. Jønsson, J. Fjeldså, A. Ödeen, P. G. P. Ericson, and M. Irestedt (2015). Dramatic niche shifts and morphological change in two insular bird species. Royal Society Open Science 2: 140364. Close ). Within Motacillidae, Madanga appears to be embedded within Anthus, where it is sister to the Alpine Pipit (Anthus gutturalis) (1 Alström, P., K. A. Jønsson, J. Fjeldså, A. Ödeen, P. G. P. Ericson, and M. Irestedt (2015). Dramatic niche shifts and morphological change in two insular bird species. Royal Society Open Science 2: 140364. Close ). Because Madanga is embedded within Anthus, it has been moved to that genus, and represents a fascinating case of evolution, where colonization and adaption to forested habitats resulted in dramatic changes in plumage and foraging behavior.

Monotypic.

This poorly known, enigmatic species was long placed with the white-eyes in Zosteropidae (8 Mees, G. F. (1969). A systematic review of the Indo-Australian Zosteropidae (Part III). Zoologische Verhandelingen 102:1–390. Close ). Recent genetic work, however, has shown that it is not at all closely related to white-eyes, and is in fact part of the family Motacillidae (1 Alström, P., K. A. Jønsson, J. Fjeldså, A. Ödeen, P. G. P. Ericson, and M. Irestedt (2015). Dramatic niche shifts and morphological change in two insular bird species. Royal Society Open Science 2: 140364. Close ). Not only is this odd songbird part of Motacillidae, but it is also embedded within the traditional genus Anthus (the pipits), where, based on DNA sequence data, it appears to be sister to the Alpine Pipit (Anthus gutturalis) from the highlands of New Guinea (1 Alström, P., K. A. Jønsson, J. Fjeldså, A. Ödeen, P. G. P. Ericson, and M. Irestedt (2015). Dramatic niche shifts and morphological change in two insular bird species. Royal Society Open Science 2: 140364. Close ). Together, these two species appeared to be sister to Nilgiri Pipit (Anthus nilghiriensis), Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis), and Olive-backed Pipit (Anthus hodgsoni) (1 Alström, P., K. A. Jønsson, J. Fjeldså, A. Ödeen, P. G. P. Ericson, and M. Irestedt (2015). Dramatic niche shifts and morphological change in two insular bird species. Royal Society Open Science 2: 140364. Close ).

Western and central Buru (Mount Kapalatmada and Mada Range), in the southern Moluccas.

This species resides in montane forests at 820–1,750 m, mainly above 1,450 m. It is probably restricted to small isolated pockets of elfin forest with strong epiphytic growth and stunted trees.

Not known.

Main Foods Taken

Insects.

Food Capture and Consumption

Limited data. The Madanga is presumed to take invertebrates from bark and lichen. It forages in mixed-species flocks. It has been observed climbing up and down trunks in the manner of a nuthatch (Sitta). Alström et al. (1 Alström, P., K. A. Jønsson, J. Fjeldså, A. Ödeen, P. G. P. Ericson, and M. Irestedt (2015). Dramatic niche shifts and morphological change in two insular bird species. Royal Society Open Science 2: 140364. Close ) speculate it was preadapted to this shift in habitat and feeding behavior, as many of its closest relatives have short, decurved hind claws, unlike other pipits, and many members of the clade it belongs to frequent wooded habitats.

Extremely poorly known, and there are no available recordings in online collections.

Vocal Array

The only described vocalization of the species is a "high-pitched, thin, downslurred zit."(9 Eaton, J. A., B. van Balen, N. W. Brickle, and F. E. Rheindt (2016). Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago: Greater Sundas and Wallacea. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ) No other information is available.

None known.

No information.

ENDANGERED. The Madanga is a restricted-range species, present in Buru Endemic Bird Area. It is uncommon and local. There were four specimens collected in the 1920s in the mountains of the western half of the island. Buru was revisited in the 1990s when two individuals were observed in a mixed-species flock at Danau Rana in the far west. In 2006, a pair was seen twice in central Buru. Although its montane habitat is supposedly secure and the species is probably still common within its altitudinal range, habitat changes at Wa Fehat (noted in 1995), and its apparently very small population and range, make it very vulnerable. A nature reserve has been proposed.