Abstract
The Indonesian island of Sulawesi, a globally important hotspot of avian endemism, has been relatively poorly studied ornithologically, to the extent that several new bird species from the region have been described to science only recently, and others have been observed and photographed, but never before collected or named to science. One of these is a new species of Muscicapa flycatcher that has been observed on several occasions since 1997. We collected two specimens in Central Sulawesi in 2012, and based on a combination of morphological, vocal and genetic characters, we describe the new species herein, more than 15 years after the first observations. The new species is superficially similar to the highly migratory, boreal-breeding Gray-streaked Flycatcher Muscicapa griseisticta, which winters in Sulawesi; however, the new species differs strongly from M. griseisticta in several morphological characters, song, and mtDNA. Based on mtDNA, the new species is only distantly related to M. griseisticta, instead being a member of the M. dauurica clade. The new species is evidently widely distributed in lowland and submontane forest throughout Sulawesi. This wide distribution coupled with the species' apparent tolerance of disturbed habitats suggests it is not currently threatened with extinction.
Highlights
The Indonesian island of Sulawesi and its satellite islands are of great biogeographic interest due to the region’s complex geography which arose from the collision of several tectonic plates [1, 2]
Stemming from this geological history, Sulawesi is an important center of avian endemism with 42 species and 14 genera found nowhere else in the world [3, 4]
While birdwatching in secondary broadleaf forest with some remnant large trees in Lore Lindu National Park, Central Sulawesi, at 1,025 m elevation on 20 Jul 1997, King et al [19] observed a bird that looked similar to the migratory Gray-streaked Flycatcher M. griseisticta (Figure 1)
Summary
The Indonesian island of Sulawesi and its satellite islands are of great biogeographic interest due to the region’s complex geography which arose from the collision of several tectonic plates [1, 2]. While birdwatching in secondary broadleaf forest with some remnant large trees in Lore Lindu National Park, Central Sulawesi, at 1,025 m elevation on 20 Jul 1997, King et al [19] observed a bird that looked similar to the migratory Gray-streaked Flycatcher M. griseisticta (Figure 1). Since it was observed during the boreal summer when migrants were back in their breeding grounds in northern Asia, the record would be highly unusual if it referred to M. griseisticta. As part of field work to study undescribed taxa in Central Sulawesi, we searched for the undescribed Muscicapa flycatcher in and around Lore Lindu National Park at Danau Tambing, the Anaso track, Badaeha, and Baku Bakulu in Jul 2011 and Jul 2012. Prepared these as skin specimens with associated partial skeletons, tissue samples preserved in ethanol, and stomach contents saved in ethanol
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