A Colourful New Species Of Myzomela Honeyeater From Rote Island In Eastern Indonesia

However, some cases of bird endemism have recently been documented on this island. A population of Myzomela honeyeater is one such example.

First observed in October 1990, it has been subsumed with Myzomela dammermani from Sumba Island given its superficially similar appearance. Based on extensive morphological inspection and bioacoustic analysis, we here describe this population as a new taxon to science. Apart from previously overlooked plumage distinctions, the new taxon bioacoustically differs from M. dammermani in the presence or absence of several unique call types and considerable differences across two parameters in shared call types.