Banda myzomela

The Banda myzomela is a bird species in the family Meliphagidae. It is endemic to Indonesia, and found in the Banda, Babar and the Tanimbar Islands. The two subspecies usually recognised are separated by of open sea.

Taxonomy

Currently, the Banda myzomela is split into two subspecies:

Myzomela boiei boiei, found in the Banda Islands and the Maluku Islands.
Myzomela boiei annabellae, found in the Tanimbar Islands and Babar.

In 2025, a study proposed that the two subspecies could be raised to the species level because of notable differences in plumage, size and song. The subspecies M. b. annabellae would be elevated to full species, with the population on Babar also split as a new species, Babar myzomela Myzomela babarensis.

Description

The species has sexual dimorphism. The male has a distinctive red head, neck, upper breast, and mantle, black eye ring, scapulars, and wings, a distinctive pointed beak and brown legs. The female is primarily brown, with an orange part underneath the also-pointed beak. The juveniles are not described. The subspecies M. b. annabellae differs from subspecies M. b. boiei in that the males have a white chest instead of a black one.

Habitat

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is a possible nomadic species that changes its living place in the region and go foraging in twos, and sometimes in flocks. They have their eggs in September and the chicks fledge at April.