birds

Oriole Whistlers

Oriole Whistlers (Pachycephala orioloides)

The Oriole Whistlers (Pachycephala orioloides), also known as the Yellow-throated Whistler (leading to easy confusion with the Banda Sea Whistler), is a species of bird in the Pachycephalidae family, which is endemic to the Solomon Islands, and the islands of Bougainville and Buka in far eastern Papua New Guinea. It is variably considered a subspecies of a widespread Golden Whistler (P. pectoralis) or treated as a separate species, but strong published evidence in favor of either treatment is limited, and further study is warranted to resolve the complex taxonomic situation.

 

Even if recognized as a separate species, the Oriole Whistlers includes several very different subspecies, though the males are united by their yellow throat. A notable exception is feminina from Rennell Island where the plumage of the male is female-like, and it has been suggested it should be treated as a separate monotypic species, though no major taxonomic authority recognizes this at present. The Oriole Whistler is found throughout the Solomons, except in the Santa Cruz Islands where the males are white-throated (populations from this island group are usually associated with the White-throated Whistler, P. vitiensis).

 

Copyright: Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.org.


 

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Gordon Ramel

Gordon is an ecologist with two degrees from Exeter University. He's also a teacher, a poet and the owner of 1,152 books. Oh - and he wrote this website.

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