Justification This species has been uplisted to Near Threatened because it is thought to have a relatively small population which is undergoing a slow decline as a result of deforestation, in particular driven by expansion of oil palm plantations.

Family/Sub-family Meliphagidae

Species name author (Gilliard, 1960)

Taxonomic source(s) Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993)

Identification 22.5cm. A moderately large drab-coloured honeyeater with a long curved bill (c1.5 times the length of head). It has a narrow area of bare skin is behind the eye and a mustard-olive wing area on the wing. Voice: Song is a series of 3 to 8 soft, mellow whistled pairs of notes delivered at about one pair per 0.7 seconds. The first note is simple and the second trilled or uneven, slightly down-slurred and at a lower pitch recalling M.fuscus.

Population estimate

Population trend

Range estimate (breeding/resident)

Country endemic?

2,500-9,999

decreasing

-

Yes

Range & population Melidectes whitesmanensis is endemic to the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea where it is widespread at high altitudes. Although most forest loss has been in the lowlands, it is still thought to have declined in recent years¹.

Ecology: It inhabits montane forest between 1,200 and 1,800 m. Its tolerance of habitat degradation is poorly known.

Threats On New Britain, lowland forest clearance for conversion to oil palm plantations has been intense in recent decades and the island accounts for approximately half of Papua New Guinea's timber exports¹. Although most deforestation has been in the lowlands, it is thought that this species's habitat is now being cleared, albeit slowly¹.

Conservation measures underway None is known.

Conservation measures proposed Identify and effectively protect a network of reserves, including some containing large areas of montane forest and some large community-based conservation areas. Continue to monitor trends in forest loss. Research its tolerance of degraded forest. Monitor populations in a number of primary forest and degraded forest sites on the island.

References 1. Buchanan et al. (in press).

Text account compilers Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Jonathan Ekstrom (BirdLife International)

IUCN Red List evaluators Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Simon Mahood (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Melidectes whitemanensis. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 9/2/2010

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

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