NEW RECORDS AND OBSERVATIONS FROM THE ARU ISLANDS, NEW-GUINEA REGION

Among the satellite islands of the New Guinea region, the Aru Islands are the largest and have the richest avifauna, yet no comprehensive fi eld observations of Aru Island birds have ever been published. On the basis of visits to all the main Aru Islands and many outliers, we adde d 16 species to the Aru avifauna. The most significant additions are o f seven presumed resident species: the tem Sterna albifrons; the pigeo ns Ptilinopus rivoli cf. prasinorrhous and Geopelia striata; cuckoo-sh rike Coracina lineata; and the flycatchers Rhipidura cf. phasiana, Mic roeca flavigaster and M. griseoceps. We describe field observations fo r little-known species of restricted distribution, including the pigeo ns Ptilinopus wallacii and Ducula concinna, the kingfisher Dacelo tyro , the crow Corvus fuscicapillus and the white-eye Zosterops chloris. W e report a distinctive song of the morphologically confusing honeyeate r population Meliphaga gracilis gracilis. At least four of these speci es (Ptilinopus rivoli, Ducula concinna, Rhipidura cf. phasiana and Zos terops chloris) are 'supertramps' confined to outlying Aru islands.