MacGregor's honeyeater

MacGregor's honeyeater
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Meliphagidae
Genus: Macgregoria
De Vis, 1897
Species: M. pulchra
Binomial name
Macgregoria pulchra
De Vis, 1897

The MacGregor's honeyeater (Macgregoria pulchra) also known as Macgregor's giant honeyeater, Macgregor's bird of paradise, and ochre-winged honeyeater, is a large (up to 40 cm long) black crow-like bird with a large orange-yellow eye-wattles and black-tipped ochre primary wing feathers. The sexes are similar, with the male is slightly larger than female. It is the only member of the genus Macgregoria.

A monogamous species, it inhabits subalpine forests of New Guinea. The diet consists mainly of fruits. This puzzling and little-known species has traditionally been considered a bird-of-paradise, but is actually a honeyeater. Recent genetic evidence on the MacGregor's honeyeater confirms that it belongs to the Meliphagidae family.[2] It is similar and closely related to the smoky honeyeater.

The name commemorates its discoverer, the administrator of British New Guinea Sir William MacGregor.

Due to small and declining population, the MacGregor's honeyeater is evaluated as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Macgregoria pulchra". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-09-08. Retrieved 2006-08-26.
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