Ailuroedus

Ailuroedus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Ptilonorhynchidae
Genus:	Ailuroedus Cabanis, 1851
Type species
Ptilonorhynchus smithii Vigors & Horsfield, 1827=Lanius crassirostris Paykull, 1815
Species
see text

Ailuroedus is a genus of birds in the bowerbird family, Ptilonorhynchidae, native to forests in Australia and New Guinea. The common name, catbird , refers to these species' "wailing cat-like calls". ^[1] The scientific name Ailuroedus is derived from the Greek 'ailouros', meaning cat, and 'eidos', referring to form (or perhaps from oaidos, singer).

Taxonomy

The genus Ailuroedus was introduced in 1851 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis to accommodate a single species, Ptilonorhynchus smithii Vigors and Horsfield. ^[2] This is a junior synonym of Lanius crassirostris Paykull, 1815, the green catbird. ^[3] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek αιλουρος/ailouros meaning "cat" with αοιδος/aoidos or ωδος/ōdos meaning "singer". ^[4]

Traditionally, the Ailuroedus catbirds were classified as consisting as either two ^{[5] [6]} or three species. ^[7] A 2016 genetic and morphological study by Martin Irestedt and collaborators found that the taxa formed distinct genetic lineages. ^[8] Based on this result the taxa were separated into ten species. ^[9] Some of the taxa were also included in a genetic study published in 2020. ^[10] However in 2025 AviList reconsidered the Ailuroedus melanotis complex and chose to treat it as three rather than seven species based on the modest genetic and morphological differences. ^[11]

Spotted catbird , Queensland.

Species

The genus contains six species: ^[11]

• White-eared catbird, Ailuroedus buccoides – northwestern New Guinea eastward to southeastern Cenderawasih Bay, including Raja Ampat Islands (off western New Guinea)
• Ochre-breasted catbird, Ailuroedus stonii – south and southeast New Guinea
• Tan-capped catbird, Ailuroedus geislerorum – Yapen (Geelvink Bay, northwest New Guinea), north lowlands and north watershed of southeast New Guinea
• Spotted catbird, Ailuroedus maculosus – northeastern Australia (Wet Tropics region, northern Queensland)
• Black-eared catbird, Ailuroedus melanotis – northern Queensland, Australia, and New Guinea, including its surrounding islands (includes the Huon, Black-capped, Northern and Arfak catbirds)
• Green catbird, Ailuroedus crassirostris – eastern Australia (Kroombit Tops, southeastern Queensland to southern New South Wales)

Description

Catbirds are characterize by ivory-colored bill with the hooked maxilla, large head, green dorsal plumage, ventral spotting, powerful grasping claws and fig-eating habit. ^[12]

In contrast to the other genera within the Ptilonorhynchidae family, all of the Ailuroedus catbirds lack marked sexual dimorphism, are pair bonded, monogamous breeders, with both parents caring for the offspring. ^{[1] [13]} They form pair bonds in which the male helps to build the nest, and have simple arboreal chasing displays, without bowers or stages. ^[13]

References

1. Rowland, Peter (2008). Bowerbirds. CSIRO Publishing. p. 7. ISBN   978-0-643-09420-8 . Retrieved 2009-05-07.
2. Cabanis, Jean (1850–1851). Museum Heineanum : Verzeichniss der ornithologischen Sammlung des Oberamtmann Ferdinand Heine, auf Gut St. Burchard vor Halberstadt (in German and Latin). Vol. 1. Halberstadt: R. Frantz. p. 213, footnote. For the publication date of volume 1 see: Dickinson, E.C.; Overstreet, L.K.; Dowsett, R.J.; Bruce, M.D. (2011). Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: a Directory to the literature and its reviewers. Northampton, UK: Aves Press. pp. 80–81. ISBN   978-0-9568611-1-5.
3. Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1962). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 15. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 172.
4. Jobling, James A. "Ailuroedus". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
5. Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1962). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 15. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. pp. 172–175.
6. Dickinson, E.C.; Christidis, L., eds. (2014). The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Vol. 2: Passerines (4th ed.). Eastbourne, UK: Aves Press. p. 141. ISBN   978-0-9568611-2-2.
7. Frith, C.B.; Frith, D.W. (2009). "Family Ptilonorhynchidae (Bowerbirds)" . In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions. pp. 350-403 [393-394]. ISBN   978-84-96553-50-7.
8. Irestedt, M.; Batalha-Filho, H.; Roselaar, C.S.; Christidis, L.; Ericson, P.G.P. (2016). "Contrasting phylogeographic signatures in two Australo-Papuan bowerbird species complexes (Aves: Ailuroedus)". Zoologica Scripta. 45 (4): 365–379. doi:10.1111/zsc.12163.
9. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (February 2025). "Lyrebirds, scrubbirds, bowerbirds, Australasian treecreepers, Australasian wrens". IOC World Bird List Version 15.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
10. Ericson, P.G.P.; Irestedt, M.; Nylander, J.A.A.; Christidis, L.; Joseph, L.; Qu, Y. (2020). "Parallel evolution of bower-building behavior in two groups of bowerbirds suggested by phylogenomics". Systematic Biology. 69 (5): 820–829. doi: 10.1093/sysbio/syaa040 .
11. AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi: 10.2173/avilist.v2025 . Retrieved 16 December 2025.
12. Beehler, Bruce McPherson; Pratt, Thane K. (2016). Birds of New Guinea: distribution, taxonomy, and systematics. Princeton (N.J.): Princeton university press. ISBN   978-0-691-16424-3.
13. Gregory, Phil (2020). Birds of Paradise and Bowerbirds: An Identification Guide. Princeton University Press. p. 323. ISBN   9780691202143.