Myiagra oceanica erythrops Hartlaub and Finsch
Micronesian Broadbill
Myiagra erythrops Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1868, p. 6. (Type locality, Pelew Islands.)
Myiagra erythrops Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1868, pp. 117, 118 (Pelew Islands); idem, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872, pp. 89, 97 (Pelew); Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875, pp. 4, 20 (Palau); Giebel, Thes. Ornith., 2, 1875, p. 658 (Pelew); Nehrkorn, Journ. f. Ornith., 1879, pp. 399, 403 (Palau); Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 4, 1879, p. 383 (Pelew); Schmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 407 (Palau); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 23 (Pelew); Oustalet, Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 195 (Palaos); Bolau, Mitteil. Naturhist. Mus. Hamburg, 1898, p. 55 (Palau); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, pp. 112, 113 (Palau); Dubois, Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 283 (Pelew); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p. 260 (Palau); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 54 (Pelew); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 64 (Pelew); Yamashina, Tori, 10, 1940, p. 674 (Palau); Handlist Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 195 (Babelthuap, Koror); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 69 (Peleliu, Ngabad, Garakayo).
Submyiagra erythrops Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 504 (Palau); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 176 (Palau).
Myiagra oceanica erythrops Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 296 (Palau).
Geographic range.—Micronesia: Palau Islands—Babelthuap, Koror, Garakayo, Peleliu, Ngabad.
Characters.—Adult male: Crown, occiput, nape, and auriculars dark "slate-blue"; forehead, lores and orbital ring dark "cinnamon-rufous"; black and upper wing-coverts olive-brown; rump more like crown; underparts near "cinnamon," paler on middle of abdomen, sides, and under tail-coverts; wings and tail dark brown, edged with white; secondaries edged with brownish; under wing-coverts whitish with dusky bases; bill and feet black.
Adult female: Resembles adult male, but slightly smaller and paler in color.
Immature: Resembles adult, but head and rump browner; forehead, lores, and orbital ring sandy in some individuals, more rufous in others; underparts usually paler than in adult; bill basally lighter.
Measurements.—Measurements are listed in [table 42].
Table 42. Measurements of Adult Specimens of Myiagra oceanica
Table 42. Measurements of Adult Specimens of Myiagra oceanica
| Subspecies | Number and sex | Wing | Tail | Exposed culmen | Tarsus |
| M. o. erythrops | 14 males | 69 | 53 | 16.4 | 19.5 |
| (68-71) | (51-56) | (16.0-17.3) | (18.5-20) | ||
11 females | 66 | 51 | 16.1 | 19.5 | |
| (64-68) | (48-53) | (15.5-17.0) | (18.5-20) | ||
| M. o. freycineti | 25 males | 70 | 60 | 16.3 | 19.5 |
| (67-73) | (57-64) | (15.8-17.0) | (18.5-20) | ||
16 females | 67 | 57 | 16.0 | 19.0 | |
| (65-70) | (55-62) | (15.5-17.0) | (18.0-19) | ||
| M. o. oceanica | 11 males | 81 | 68 | 20.1 | 20.0 |
| (78-83) | (65-71) | (19.5-20.5) | (19.5-21) | ||
10 females | 79 | 66 | 20.0 | 20.0 | |
| (77-81) | (65-68) | (20.0-20.5) | (19-20.5) | ||
| M. o. pluto | 14 males | 82 | 74 | 17.5 | 19.0 |
| (79-83) | (71-77) | (17.5-18.0) | (18.5-20) | ||
14 females | 80 | 73 | 17.5 | 19.0 | |
| (78-84) | (69-77) | (17.0-18.0) | (18.5-20) |
Specimens examined.—Total number, 33 (17 males, 15 females, 1 unsexed), as follows: Palau Islands, USNM—Babelthuap, 1 (Nov. 27)—Koror, 4 (Nov. 6, 19, 26)—Garakayo, 1 (Sept. 18)—Peleliu, 2 (Aug. 30)—Ngabad, 2 (Sept. 11); AMNH—exact locality not given, 23 (Oct., Nov., Dec.).
Molt.—Molt apparently takes place in fall and early winter. Of the specimens examined, there is little evidence of molt in those obtained in August and September while there is considerably more evidence of molt in those taken in November and December.
Food habits.—A bird taken by the writer on September 17, 1945, at Garakayo had approximately one-half cc. of insect parts in its stomach.
Remarks.—The Micronesian Broadbill at Palau is a friendly little bird and easily called-up to within a few yards of a person by imitating its note. It was seen by the NAMRU2 party in 1945 as singles and in pairs in the dense underbrush of the undisturbed forested areas. The bird was seen at only one woodland area at Peleliu (Southeastern Peninsula), but it was observed more frequently on the smaller islands of Ngabad and Garakayo. Coultas (field notes) also notes that in 1931 this bird was found more frequently on the smaller islands. Myiagra was found to be much less conspicuous at Palau than Rhipidura lepida. Myiagra appears to be less active, more solitary in its habits, and possibly more restricted in the territory that it covers in feeding than Rhipidura.