Scientists have discovered several new bird species on the Wakatobi Islands in Indonesia. One of these new species, the Wakatobi honeysuckle, can be identified by its blue and yellow chest and relatively short wings.

Honeysuckers are similar to American hummingbirds and live in the tropics from Africa to Australia. To discover new species within the honeysuckle family, zoologists from Trinity College Dublin worked with a team of Indonesian researchers.

On the Wakatobi Islands, southeast of Sulawesi, the researchers looked at the already familiar steel-breasted sunbird and velvet honeysuckle. They concluded that some of these birds actually belong to previously unobserved species. “It is amazing that there are still species waiting to be found in this region,” said lead researcher Fionn Ó Marcaigh.

Insulated by short wings

The Wakatobi honeysuckle is genetically different from previously discovered species and also looks different. It has darker plumage, higher pitched song, and shorter wings than the steel-breasted sunbird.

While the steel-breasted sunbird has spread across several areas, the Wakatobi honeysuckle has lived isolated on the Wakatobi Islands due to its short wings. “Small, isolated islands like this have their own evolutionary processes, and these often give rise to unique species,” said researcher Ó Marcaigh.