Anthochaera

Last updated

Anthochaera
Red Wattlebird Anthochaera carunculata.jpg
Red wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Meliphagidae
Genus: Anthochaera
Vigors & Horsfield, 1827
Type species
Anthochaera carunculatus [1]
Vigors & Horsfield, 1827
Species

See text

Anthochaera is a genus of birds in the honeyeater family. The species are endemic to Australia and include the little wattlebird, the red wattlebird, the western wattlebird, and the yellow wattlebird. A molecular phylogenetic study has shown that the regent honeyeater also belongs in this genus.

Contents

Description

Of the five species in the genus only the yellow wattlebird (Anthochaera paradoxa) and the red wattlebird (A. carunculata) have the wattles of their common name. [2] These are bare fleshy appendages, usually wrinkled and often brightly coloured, hanging from the cheeks, neck or throat, and presumably serving for display.

A common name for species of the genus is wattlebird, a term also used for unrelated avian species.

Taxonomy

The genus Anthochaera was introduced in 1827 by the naturalists Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield. [3] The name is derived from the Greek anthos meaning flower or bloom and khairō meaning to enjoy. [4] The type species was designated as the little wattlebird by the German ornithologist Hans Friedrich Gadow in 1884. [5] [6]

The regent honeyeater (Anthochaera phrygia) was formerly placed in its own genus, Xanthomyza, but placed with the Anthochaera genus in a 2004 molecular phylogenetic study. [7] [8] The genus Anthochaera is sister group to the species Acanthagenys rufogularis , the spiny-cheeked honeyeater, separated as a monotypic genus. [9]

Acanthagenys

Spiny-cheeked honeyeater (Acanthagenys rufogularis)

Anthochaera

Little wattlebird (Anthochaera chrysoptera)

Western wattlebird (Anthochaera lunulata)

Regent honeyeater (Anthochaera phrygia)

Red wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata)

Yellow wattlebird (Anthochaera paradoxa)

Cladogram showing the relationship between species. [9]

Species and distribution

The genus Anthochaera contains the following species: [8]

ImageCommon nameScientific nameDistribution
Red wattlebird.jpg Red wattlebird Anthochaera carunculatasoutheast Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and southwest Western Australia
Anthochaera chrysoptera 4.jpg Little wattlebird Anthochaera chrysopteracoastal and sub-coastal south-eastern Australia
Anthochaera paradoxa.jpg Yellow wattlebird Anthochaera paradoxaTasmania
Western Wattlebird 1.jpg Western wattlebird Anthochaera lunulatasouth-western Australia.
Regent honeyeater, Xanthomyza phrygia, Sydney, Australia. Not the best picture on a cloudy day with crappy camera, but quite a striking bird. (16445299203).jpg Regent honeyeater Anthochaera phrygiasouth-eastern Australia

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honeyeater</span> Family of birds

The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, miners and melidectes. They are most common in Australia and New Guinea, and found also in New Zealand, the Pacific islands as far east as Samoa and Tonga, and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea known as Wallacea. Bali, on the other side of the Wallace Line, has a single species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regent honeyeater</span> Critically endangered Australian species of bird

The regent honeyeater is a critically endangered bird endemic to southeastern Australia. It is commonly considered a flagship species within its range, with the efforts going into its conservation having positive effects on many other species that share its habitat. Recent genetic research suggests it is closely related to the wattlebirds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red wattlebird</span> Passerine bird native to southern Australia

The red wattlebird is a passerine bird native to southern Australia. At 33–37 cm in length, it is the second largest species of Australian honeyeater. It has mainly grey-brown plumage, with red eyes, distinctive pinkish-red wattles on either side of the neck, white streaks on the chest and a large bright yellow patch on the lower belly. The sexes are similar in plumage. Juveniles have less prominent wattles and browner eyes. John White described the red wattlebird in 1790. Three subspecies are recognized.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Double-barred finch</span> Species of bird

The double-barred finch is an estrildid finch found in dry savannah, tropical (lowland) dry grassland and shrubland habitats in northern and eastern Australia. It is sometimes referred to as Bicheno's finch or as the owl finch, the latter of which owing to the dark ring of feathers around the face. It is the only species placed in the genus Stizoptera .

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little wattlebird</span> Species of bird

The little wattlebird, also known as the brush wattlebird, is a passerine bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. It is found in coastal and sub-coastal south-eastern Australia.

<i>Manorina</i> Genus of birds

Manorina is a genus of Australian endemic honeyeaters, containing four species: the black-eared miner the yellow-throated miner, the noisy miner and the bell miner. The genus is notable for the complex social organisation of its species, which live in colonies that can be further subdivided into coteries and nest contingents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue-faced honeyeater</span> Species of bird

The blue-faced honeyeater, also colloquially known as the Bananabird, is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae. It is the only member of its genus, and it is most closely related to honeyeaters of the genus Melithreptus. Three subspecies are recognised. At around 29.5 cm (11.6 in) in length, the blue-faced species is large for a honeyeater. Its plumage is distinctive, with olive upperparts, white underparts, and a black head and throat with white nape and cheeks. Males and females are similar in external appearance. Adults have a blue area of bare skin on each side of the face readily distinguishing them from juveniles, which have yellow or green patches of bare skin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spinebill</span> Genus of birds

Spinebill is the name given to two members of the honeyeater family, both in the genus Acanthorhynchus, which is Latin for "spine bill". They are around 15 centimetres in length, and are coloured black, white and chestnut, with a long, downcurved bill. They are native to Australia, with one species in the east and one in the west. They feed on nectar as well as insects, and live mainly in forests, gardens, and other shrubbery habitats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-faced monarch</span> Species of bird

The black-faced monarch is a passerine songbird in the family Monarchidae found along the eastern seaboard of Australia, and also New Guinea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noisy friarbird</span> Species of bird

The noisy friarbird is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to southern New Guinea and eastern Australia. It is one of several species known as friarbirds whose heads are bare of feathers. It is brown-grey in colour, with a prominent knob on its bare black-skinned head. It feeds on insects and nectar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-naped honeyeater</span> Species of bird

The white-naped honeyeater is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to eastern Australia. Birds from southwestern Australia have been shown to be a distinct species, Gilbert's honeyeater, and the eastern birds are more closely related to the black-headed honeyeater of Tasmania. One of several similar species of black-headed honeyeaters in the genus Melithreptus, it dwells in dry sclerophyll eucalypt woodland. Its diet consists of nectar from various flowers, and it also feeds on insects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black honeyeater</span> Species of birds

The black honeyeater is a species of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. The black honeyeater exhibits sexual dimorphism, with the male being black and white while the female is a speckled grey-brown; immature birds look like the female. The species is endemic to Australia, and ranges widely across the arid areas of the continent, through open woodland and shrubland, particularly in areas where the emu bush and related species occur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shrikethrush</span> Genus of birds

A shrikethrush, also spelled shrike-thrush, is any one of eleven species of songbird that is a member of the genus Colluricincla. They have nondescript, predominantly brown or grey, plumage, but are accomplished singers, their calls described as "strong, mellow and beautiful." Shrikethrushes are generally insectivorous, though have been recorded eating molluscs and berries. They build cup-shaped nests in the forks of trees.

<i>Epthianura</i> Genus of birds

Epthianura is a genus of bird also known as the Australian chats. Along with the gibberbird in the genus Ashbyia they were once thought to constitute a separate family, the Epthianuridae, although most taxonomists today treat them as a subfamily, Epthianurinae, of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tawny-crowned honeyeater</span> Species of bird

The tawny-crowned honeyeater is a passerine bird native to southern Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-headed honeyeater</span> Species of bird

The black-headed honeyeater is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is one of two members of the genus Melithreptus endemic to Tasmania. Its natural habitats are temperate forest and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation. Despite its name, the black-headed honeyeater eats predominantly insects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strong-billed honeyeater</span> Species of bird

The strong-billed honeyeater is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is one of two species of the genus Melithreptus endemic to Tasmania. Its natural habitat is temperate forest.

<i>Myzomela</i> Genus of birds

Myzomela is a genus of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. It is the largest genus of honeyeaters, with 40 species, and the most geographically widespread. It ranges from Indonesia to Australia and into the islands of the Pacific Ocean as far as Micronesia and Samoa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-streaked honeyeater</span> Species of bird

The white-streaked honeyeater is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is monotypic within the genus Trichodere. It is endemic to Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilbert's honeyeater</span> Species of bird

Gilbert's honeyeater, also known as the Swan River honeyeater or western white-naped honeyeater, is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to southwestern Australia. A mid-sized honeyeater, it is olive-green above and white below, with a black head, nape and throat and a white patch over the eye and a white crescent-shaped patch on the nape. The bill is brownish-black and the eyes a dull red. The sexes have similar plumage.

References

  1. "Melaphagidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  2. Higgins, P.; Christidis, L.; Ford, H.; Bonan, A. (2008). "Honeyeaters (Meliphagidae)" . In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. doi:10.2173/bow.meliph3.01. S2CID   241635246 . Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  3. Vigors, N.A.; Horsfield, T. (1826). "A description of the Australian birds in the collection of the Linnean Society; with an attempt at arranging them according to their natural affinities (Part 1)". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 15 (1): 170–331 [320–321]. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1826.tb00115.x. The title page gives the year as 1826 but the issue was not published until 1827.
  4. Jobling, J.A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p.  49. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. Gadow, Hans (1884). Catalogue of the Passeriformes or Perching Birds in the Collection of the British Museum. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Vol. 9 Cinnyrimorphae: containing the families Nectariniidae and Meliphagidae (Sun-birds and Honey-eaters). London: Trustees of the British Museum. p. 262.
  6. Salomonsen, F. (1967). "Family Maliphagidae, Honeyeaters". In Paynter, R.A. Jnr. (ed.). Check-list of birds of the world (Volume 12). Vol. 12. Cambridge, Mass.: Museum of Comparative Zoology. pp. 338–450 [444–445].
  7. Driskell, A.C.; Christidis, L. (2004). "Phylogeny and evolution of the Australo-Papuan honeyeaters (Passeriformes, Meliphagidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 31 (3): 943–960. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2003.10.017. PMID   15120392.
  8. 1 2 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David (eds.). "Honeyeaters". World Bird List Version 5.4. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  9. 1 2 Marki, P.Z.; Jønsson, K.A.; Irestedt, M.; Nguyen, J.M.; Rahbek, C.; Fjeldså, C. (2017). "Supermatrix phylogeny and biogeography of the Australasian Meliphagides radiation (Aves: Passeriformes)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 107: 516–529. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2016.12.021. hdl: 10852/65203 . PMID   28017855.