Scarlet myzomela
| Scarlet myzomela | |
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| Female | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Meliphagidae |
| Genus: | Myzomela |
| Species: | M. sanguinolenta |
| Binomial name | |
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Myzomela sanguinolenta (Latham, 1801) |
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| Scarlet myzomela natural range | |
The scarlet myzomela or scarlet honeyeater (Myzomela sanguinolenta) is a small passerine bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to Australia. It was described by English ornithologist John Latham in 1801. At 9 to 11 centimetres (3.5 to 4.3 in) long, it is the smallest honeyeater in Australia. It has a short tail and relatively long down-curved bill. It is sexually dimorphic; the male is a striking bright red with black wings, while the female is entirely brown. It is more vocal than most honeyeaters, and a variety of calls have been recorded, including a bell-like tinkling.
The scarlet myzomela is found along most of the eastern coastline, from Cape York in the far north to Gippsland in Victoria. It is migratory in the southern parts of its range, with populations moving north in the winter. Its natural habitat is forest, where it forages mainly in the upper tree canopy. It is omnivorous, feeding on insects as well as nectar. Up to three broods may be raised over the course of a breeding season. The female lays two or rarely three flecked white eggs in a 5 centimetres (2 in) diameter cup-shaped nest high in a tree. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as being of least concern on account of its large range and apparently stable population.
The scarlet myzomela was depicted in three paintings in a set of early illustrations known as the Watling drawings, done in the first years of European settlement of Sydney between 1788 and 1794. Based on these, English ornithologist John Latham described it as three separate species in 1801. He based the description of Certhia sanguinolenta on an immature male moulting into adult plumage with incomplete red colouration, calling it the sanguineous creeper. In the same publication he described Certhia dibapha, the cochineal creeper, and C. erythropygia, the red-rumped creeper. English naturalist James Francis Stephens called it Meliphaga sanguinea in 1826 as a replacement name for Latham's Certhia sanguinolenta.John Gould determined Latham's three names to be the one species in 1843, adopting the first-written binomial name as the valid one and relegating the others to synonymy, though the name Myzomela dibapha was occasionally used, particularly in New Caledonia. In 1990, Ian McAllan proposed that the first drawing did not confirm the species identity and proposed the name Myzomela dibapha to hence be the oldest validly published name, however Richard Schodde countered in 1992 that the drawing of an immature male could not be of any other species, meaning that M. sanguinolenta should stand. He added that the alternative proposed name had not been in use since the 1850s. The Wakolo myzomela, Sulawesi myzomela, Banda myzomela, and New Caledonian myzomela were all previously considered to be conspecific with the scarlet myzomela. There are no recognized subspecies nor regional variations; differences in observed plumage are due to wear after moulting.
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