New Records and Observations from the Aru Islands, Mew Guinea Region

Summary

Among the satellite islands of the New Guinea region, the Aru Islands are the largest and have the richest avifauna, yet no comprehensive field observations of Aru Island birds have ever been published. On the basis of visits to all the main Aru Islands and many outliers, we added 16 species to the Aru avifauna. The most significant additions are of seven presumed resident species: the tern Sterna albifrons; the pigeons Ptilinopus rivoli cf. prasinorrhous and Geopelia striata; cuckoo-shrike Coracina lineata; and the flycatchers Rhipidura cf. phasiana, Microeca flavigaster and M. griseoceps. We describe field observations for little-known species of restricted distribution, including the pigeons Ptilinopus wallacii and Ducula concinna, the kingfisher Dacelo tyro, the crow Corvus fuscicapillus and the white-eye Zosterops chloris. We report a distinctive song of the morphologically confusing honeyeater population Meliphaga gracilis gracilis. At least four of these species (Ptilinopus rivoli, Ducula concinna, Rhipidura cf. phasiana and Zosterops chloris) are ‘supertramps’ confined to outlying Aru islands.