Painted Berrypeckers (Paramythiidae)

Tit Berrypecker (Oreocharis arfaki) - HBW 13, p. 348

French: Oréochare des Arfak German: Gelbbauch-Beerenpicker Spanish: Picabayas de las Arfak
Other common names: Painted/Arfak/New Guinea Berrypecker, Arfak Flowerpecker

Taxonomy: Parus (?) Arfaki A. B. Meyer, 1875, Arfak Mountains, New Guinea.
O. stictoptera is a synonym of current name for this species. Affinities of this genus and Paramythia have long been uncertain; traditionally placed in flowerpecker family (Dicaeidae), and suggested by some authors as being aberrant bulbuls (Pycnonotidae), while present species initially thought possibly to belong with the tits (Paridae); recently, both genera included with berrypeckers and longbills in family Melanocharitidae. Both, however, are well differentiated from these other families in external morphology and in aspects of nidification, and molecular-genetic anal.. View all taxonomy...

Distribution: Mountains of New Guinea: Vogelkop (Tamrau Mts, Arfak Mts), Wandammen Mts, Gauttier Mts, Torricelli Mts, Central Ranges, and mountains of Huon Peninsula.