This honeyeater occurs on both the Indonesian and Papua New Guinean sides of New Guinea. It has white spots on the head and back and searches foliage, flowers, and fruit.
The head and sides of the neck are dark yellowish green-brown, with fine white spots on the nape. The back has pale scaled markings, and the light underside is streaked and spotted.
At Mt Wilhelm, a field survey recorded it in hill and lower-montane forest: two birds were mist-netted and one observed at the 1,200 m camp, with records at 680 m and about 800 m as well. The species account says it mainly eats insects, also fruit and nectar.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.