Anthornis

Anthornis
New Zealand bellbird (Anthornis melanura)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Meliphagidae
Genus:	Anthornis G.R. Gray, 1840
Type species
The New Zealand bellbird (Anthornis melanura) [1]
Species
Anthornis melanura Anthornis melanocephala †

Anthornis is a bird genus in the honeyeater family (Meliphagidae). Its members are called bellbirds. According to genetic data, it is a sister genus to Prosthemadera. ^[2]

It contains the following species:

• New Zealand bellbird, Anthornis melanura
• Chatham Islands bellbird, Anthornis melanocephala (extinct) ^[3]

They are named bellbirds because their call sounds like a bell. Young male bellbirds copy the calls of neighbouring older males. Sometimes two males can sing in almost perfect unison because one has been copying the other.

References

1. "Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand" (PDF) (5th ed.). Wellington: Ornithological Society of New Zealand. 2022. p. 203-204.
2. Higgins, P; Christidis, L; Ford, H (2020). del Hoyo, J; Elliott, A; Sargatal, J; Christie, D. A.; Juana, E. (eds.). "New Zealand Bellbird (Anthornis melanura)" . Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. doi:10.2173/bow.nezbel1.01. S2CID   216316169.
3. Bartle, J. A.; Sagar, P. M. (1987). "Intraspecific variation in the New Zealand bellbird Anthornis melanura" (PDF). Notornis. 34: 253–306. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2019-12-03.