Red-headed Myzomela

1. Male: Glossy red head, neck, and rump with sooty-brown upperparts and blackish wings

2. Female: Grey-brown overall with subtle pink-red on forehead and chin

3. Tiny size, short tail, and active, darting movements in flowering mangroves

Red-headed Myzomelas feed primarily on nectar from mangrove blossoms and supplement their diet with small insects gleaned from foliage or caught in mid-air. They are highly territorial, especially males, which defend feeding areas and engage in mid-air grappling with rivals. The breeding season in Australia is generally from March to November, timed to coincide with peak mangrove flowering. Nests are small, cup-shaped, and suspended from branches in the mangrove canopy, typically 1.5–1 meters above water. Clutch size is usually two, sometimes three, white eggs with red blotches. While both parents help care for fledglings, only females are thought to incubate the eggs. The species is usually solitary or in pairs but may join loose associations with other mangrove-feeding birds.

Red-headed Myzomelas are found almost exclusively in mangrove forests and adjacent coastal vegetation along northern Australia, including the Kimberley, Top End, and Gulf of Carpentaria. They are highly specialized, preferring dense stands of mangroves like *Rhizophora*, *Bruguiera*, and *Avicennia*, and may also be found in paperbark thickets bordering mangroves. These birds are most active at dawn and dusk, feeding in the mangrove canopy and defending territories in flowering trees during the dry season.