Family Thornbills (Acanthizidae)
Least Concern
Yellow-bellied Gerygone (Gerygone chrysogaster)
Taxonomy
French: Gérygone à ventre jaune German: Gelbbauchgerygone Spanish: Gerigón ventrigualdo
Taxonomy:
Gerygone chrysogaster
G. R. Gray
, 1858,Aru Islands
.
Subspecies and Distribution
G. c. neglecta
Wallace, 1865 – N West Papuan Is (Waigeo, Batanta), in NW New Guinea.
G. c. notata
Salvadori, 1878 – C & S West Papuan Is (Salawati and Misool) and NW New Guinea (Vogelkop).
G. c. dohertyi
Rothschild & E. J. O. Hartert, 1903 – SW New Guinea (Onin Peninsula E to Triton Bay).
G. c. leucothorax
Mayr, 1940 – lowlands of Geelvink Bay region (W New Guinea).
G. c. chrysogaster
G. R. Gray, 1858 – Yapen I (in Geelvink Bay), N, S & SE New Guinea, and Aru Is.
Descriptive notes
10 cm. Nominate race is brownish-olive above, upperwing and tail browner, greyer on cheek, with narrow pale supraloral stripe, thin pale eyering almost broken at sides; chin... read more
Voice
Song, one of characteristic sounds of New Guinea lowland rainforest but hard to pinpoint, a sweet,... read more
Habitat
Rainforest, secondary growth, monsoon forest and riparian formations, from sea-level to, rarely, c... read more
Food and feeding
Insectivorous, but no details of prey. Occurs singly, in pairs or in small groups up to five individuals. Keeps mainly in middle storey but... read more
Breeding
Recorded in both dry and wet seasons, Aug–Sept, Feb and May. Nests as pair; possibly an occasional co-operative breeder, as four... read more
Movements
Resident; some local wandering, as recorded rarely at 760 m in hill forest at Tabubil, in C New... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. Common in lowland rainforest over a huge area of New Guinea.
Sister to G. mouki#R. Race notata moderately distinctive in possessing a fairly bold buffy single wingbar (not shown in recent publications but confirmed in AMNH material); study of other distinguishing characters encouraged. Form leucothorax thought possibly an intergrade between dohertyi and notata, and one or both of first two subsumed into notata by some authors#R#R. Proposed species G. ruficauda, supposedly from NE Australia (“Thirteen Mile River”, in E Queensland), was based on incorrectly labelled specimens of present species discoloured (faded) by preservative spirit. Five subspecies recognized.