| Case Summary for:
Submission No 355: Red-capped Flowerpecker Dicaeum geelvinkianum;
Saibai Island, Torres Strait, QLD. 4th - 5th September 2002 (Unpublished).
Submitted by: Tony Palliser. Verdict: Accepted This case relates to the sighting of a male Red-capped Flowerpecker at the same location on Saibai Island in Torres Strait, Queensland, as the first Australian sighting of this species in July 1996 (BARC Submission No.273, Palliser 2002), and just nine days, almost to the minute, after the bird considered in Case 356. On the 4th September, ten observers obtained excellent views for about a minute as the bird sat perched high on a dead twig. The author saw it again the following day but only briefly. One member of the party reported a female on the 4th September but this was not confirmed. The description clearly describes a Flowerpecker with a crimson forehead, crown and breast. Of all the flowerpeckers only geelvinkianum displays this combination of markings. Characters are consistent with races (albopunctatum or rubrigulare) frequenting the nearby Fly-River region of New Guinea. Members voted unanimously in favour of acceptance. One member pointed out that Cheke et al. (2001) states that rubrigulare has "neck in front entirely red, with albopunctatum separated from rubrigulare by the extent of white between the red tips and dusky base feathers of head, rump and uppertail-coverts". This diagnosis suggests that separation of these races in the field is not possible on current knowledge. This case represents the second confirmed record for Australia of a species
that may prove to be resident in small numbers on Saibai Island.
· Beehler, B.M et al. 1986. Birds of New Guinea, Princeton
University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.
Tony Palliser
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