Honeyeaters (Meliphagidae)

Short-bearded Honeyeater (Melidectes nouhuysi) - HBW 13, p. 611

French: Méliphage à barbe courte German: Kurzbart-Honigfresser Spanish: Mielero Barbicorto
Other common names: (Short-)bearded/Nouhuys’s Melidectes

Taxonomy: Melirrhophetes nouhuysi van Oort, 1910, Oranje Mountains, west-central New Guinea.
Study of relationships within genus needed. Forms a superspecies with M. princeps, and both species, together with M. fuscus, are sometimes placed in a separate genus, Melionyx; these three, along with M. whitemanensis, comprise a group of medium-sized species that differ from others in genus in size, morphology, plumage and voice. Length of bill may vary, being longer in Star Mts than in Snow Mts; study required. Monotypic.

Distribution: Highest mountains of Central Range in Snow and Star Mts, including Nassau Range, Mt Capella and Dokfuma Meadow, in WC New Guinea.