Ixobrychus flavicollis (Latham, 1790)

Bishop, K. David, 2023, The avifauna of Biak Island, Papua, Indonesia with comments on status, conservation, natural history and taxonomy, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 143 (1), pp. 3-62 : 22

**BLACK BITTERN Ixobrychus flavicollis

Local name Man Paiwar (Sansundi).

Range Biak.

Status Occasional visitor. On mainland New Guinea resident throughout the lowlands (Beehler & Pratt 2016). On 12 October 2012 a melanistic individual was photographed ( Fig. 6 ) in the tsunami swamp (F. Antram, eBird checklist S98647576); 5 August 2018: one at the same site (S. Lorenz, eBird checklist S47661085). KDB in Beehler & Pratt (2016) was incorrect to assert that there is at least one specimen from Biak.

Figures

Figure 6. Melanistic Black Bittern Ixobrychus flavicollis, Biak, October 2012 (© Richard Noske)