Graceful Honeyeater (Microptilotis gracilis) | Details

Graceful Honeyeater Microptilotis gracilis

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic note
Microptilotis gracilis has been split as Graceful Honeyeater M. gracilis and Imitatress Honeyeater M. imitatrix after a scrupulous comparison by Nielsen (2018), which found that M. imitatrix differs by its; less circular, more wedge-shaped ‘ear-spot’ (1); navy blue vs dark brown iris (2); greyish-olive vs off-white belly and undertail-coverts (2); usually paler yellow gape (ns); hugely restricted vocal repertoire (‘only two simple vocalisations and possibly no song’) vs a ‘remarkable repertoire of complex vocalisations, all of which can be heard throughout its range’ (at least 3).
Previously M. gracilis and M. cinereifrons (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) were lumped as Meliphaga gracilis following Christidis and Boles (2008); Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).

Taxonomic source(s)
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2019. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 4. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v4_Dec19.zip.
Nielsen, L. 2018. Are there two species of Graceful Honeyeater in Australia? Australian Field Ornithology 35: 149-157.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2019	Least Concern
2016	Not Recognised
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Species attributes

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	792,000 km²
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	stable	-	suspected	-
Generation length	5.5 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as generally common (Higgins et al. 2019).

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats (Higgins et al. 2019).

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident
Australia	extant	native	yes
Indonesia	extant	native	yes
Papua New Guinea	extant	native	yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Urban Areas	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Savanna	Moist	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 500 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	0 - 800 m

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Graceful Honeyeater Microptilotis gracilis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/graceful-honeyeater-microptilotis-gracilis on 26/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 26/12/2024.