Sumba myzomela
The Sumba myzomela is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is endemic to Sumba in the western Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia, where it is found in forest with a significant component of deciduous trees.
Taxonomy
The Sumba myzomela was initially described as a subspecies of the red-headed myzomela in 1928, but differences between the two species were discussed by taxonomists as early as the late 1950s and the two are now universally considered distinct species. The Rote myzomela was previously considered a population of this species due to similarities in their plumage, but was described as a separate species in 2017.Phylogenetic studies suggest that the species is most closely related to the red-headed, black-breasted, Wetar, and Papuan black myzomelas.
Description
The Sumba myzomela is a small honeyeater with a short, curved bill. Adults reach an average length of 11 cm. Adult males have a distinctive bright black-and-red plumage. The head and neck are dark red, separated sharply from the black mantle and breast band. There is a narrow black loral stripe, broadening into a narrow ring around the eye. The back, scapulars, and upperwing are also blackish, with the pale greyish edges to the remiges and coverts forming a pale panel when the wing is folded. The underside of the wing is white with a dark grey edge and tip. The blackish breast band extends to front of the flanks, while the rest of the underparts are greyish-black. The rump and uppertail coverts are dark red, while the undertail is dark gray. Females are much more drab than males, with gray-brown upperparts and somewhat paler underparts, as well as a pale red tinge from the chin to the forecrown.The Sumba myzomela is similar in appearance to several other Indonesian myzomelas, with females in particular impossible to differentiate based on appearance. However, it is the only species of myzomela to occur on Sumba and so is distinctive within its range.