Nest, egg and parental care of a nestling in the New Guinean Lesser Ground-robin Amalocichla incerta

Abstract

The Lesser Ground-robin Amalocichla incerta (Petroicidae) is endemic to mid-mountain forests in mainland New Guinea. Spectrograms of four songs are depicted. We describe the elevation and nest-site, height above the ground, structure and materials of three nests discovered in the Yopno Urawa Som Conservation Area, Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea, and compare these observations with two previously described nests. All three of the nests in the present study were 1.0–2.1 m above ground. The colour and dimensions of two eggs are described. At one nest with a feathered nestling estimated to be 13–16 days of age, a pair of adults disposed of faecal sacs and provisioned the nestling at a rate of 7.5 feeds per hour. The nestling period of 22 days was similar to that of two other montane New Guinean robins, but longer than that of most temperate and tropical Australian robins.