Green catbird | |
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A recording of a green catbird at Bunya Mountains National Park | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Ptilonorhynchidae |
Genus: | Ailuroedus |
Species: | A. crassirostris |
Binomial name | |
Ailuroedus crassirostris (Paykull, 1815) | |
Geographic range. |
The green catbird (Ailuroedus crassirostris) is a species of bowerbird found in subtropical forests along the east coast of Australia, from southeastern Queensland to southern New South Wales. It is named after its distinctive call which sounds like a cat meowing, although it has also been mistaken for a crying child. The green catbird resembles the spotted catbird, which is found in wet tropical rainforests of Far North Queensland.
Green catbirds are a medium-sized stocky bird with long, powerful legs and a long, stout bill. [2] The back, wings and rump are brilliant emerald green, with very conspicuous pure white spots at the tips of the tertiaries and secondaries, which, on the tips of coverts, form two white wing-bars. The tail is brownish emerald with white tips. The head is greenish brown mottled black and finely flecked pale buff. The chest is greenish buff to dull emerald with distinctive short white streaks. [3]
The bill is horn coloured and the legs are greyish brown. [2]
The iris is bright red in direct sun with a partial white eye-ring. [3]
Male and female birds share similar plumage, making it very difficult to distinguish between the sexes. Juvenile birds also have similar plumage, although it is duller. Very young birds have fluffy grey down on their heads (Donaghey. R. 1996). [2]
The green catbird's call varies from a short, recognisable "heer-I-aar" to a long, drawn-out, quavering version: "heeeir-Ieee-aaa-aarr". [3]
According to The Field Guide to Australian Birds (Michael Morcombe, 2003) (2nd edition), green catbirds are found along the length of the east coast of NSW (in areas of suitable habitat) through to the Cooloola Coast in South East Queensland.
The birds are found in subtropical and temperate rainforest and paperbarks, and occasionally in adjacent eucalypt forest.
The average home range of the birds is five acres, although this is greatly reduced during breeding season. Breeding territories usually contain several fig trees which regularly produce large amounts of ripe fruit for several months which coincides with the catbird breeding season. Green catbirds drink and bath in pools of water that are found in the crevices of surrounding trees or water courses. [2]
Unlike other male bower birds, the male green catbird does not build a bower, however the male will clear an area from which he will perform and display to other females. Similar to other male bower birds, he will attempt to attract females by displaying colourful fruits, flowers and leaves in his beak.
Green catbirds are monogamous breeders. Once a female accepts a male they will mate for life. The pair bonding is maintained by the male feeding the female throughout the year, as well as by calls in duet. [3]
The breeding season is usually from October to January, although can be as early as September and as late as March. The nest is a large and bulky; built of large sticks bound with vine tendrils and with an inner lining of dry leaves. The nest interiors are noted for having an unusual layer of wet, soft decayed wood beneath the lining of fine twigs and leaves; adding to its overall large size relative to the size of the bird. [4]
The nest is placed in the dense crown of a low understorey tree where there are many twigs and stems to support its bulk, or in thorny or stinging trees, the crown of a tree fern, or in the upwardly cupped fronds of a bird's nest fern. [4]
The clutch typically consists of 2 - 3 eggs which are incubated by the female for 23 – 24 days.
The male assists in rearing the young through the 20 – 22 days to fledging.
No detailed studies have been undertaken on the longevity of the bird in the wild or in captivity, although the average lifespan in the wild is thought to be around eight years and one bird in captivity was known to have lived for at least fifteen years. [2]
Although usually seen individually, green catbirds typically socialize in pairs but can be seen in groups of 3–5 at the end of breeding season when their young are still somewhat dependent on their parents. Green catbirds do not flock but outside of breeding seasons it is not uncommon to see them in groups of around 20 birds all feeding in mutual territories, this is most common during winter fruiting seasons. Amongst these groups of green catbirds other species that can be found during these communal feeds are satin bowerbirds, regent bowerbirds and fig birds [5]
Green catbirds will constantly spend their time seeking out food sources both inside and outside their territories and fiercely defend food sources within their territory from other males and females. Patrolling their territory also makes up a large portion of their daily activity. They will be heard regularly calling but this is most common during breeding season, when predators are in the vicinity of nests and when engaging other birds in territorial battles. [2]
Green catbirds are classified as omnivorous but are mainly frugivorous (native, introduced or cultivated), feeding on figs and a variety of vegetable matter such as buds, shoots, flowers and seeds. Catbirds will also be seen in cultivated fruit orchards when their naturally occurring food sources become scarce. Their diet is also supplemented with insects such as grasshoppers, cicadas, beetles, millipedes and mites and small vertebrates such as tree frogs and hatchlings of smaller birds that inhabit their area.
Green catbirds forage in trees, active and wary, moving from limb to limb in the mid to upper strata as they forage. [3]
Although the green catbird is listed as Least Concern on IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, it is listed as Vulnerable in NSW, which is the majority of its range.
Although it is widespread and common in its favoured habitat, ongoing clearing of rainforest and paperbark swamps for development is likely to continue to threaten the green catbird in the future.
Bowerbirds make up the bird family Ptilonorhynchidae. They are renowned for their unique courtship behaviour, where males build a structure and decorate it with sticks and brightly coloured objects in an attempt to attract a mate.
Ficus macrophylla, commonly known as the Moreton Bay fig or Australian banyan, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the Mulberry Family (Moraceae) native to eastern Australia, from the Wide Bay–Burnett region in the north to the Illawarra in New South Wales, as well as Lord Howe Island where the subspecies F. m. columnaris is a banyan form covering 2.5 acres or more of ground. Its common name is derived from Moreton Bay in Queensland, Australia. It is best known for its imposing buttress roots.
The white-browed woodswallow is a medium-sized (~19 cm) passerine bird endemic to Australia. The white-browed woodswallow has very distinctive plumage consisting of white brow over a black head with the upper body being a deep blue-grey and with a chestnut under body. The females are paler then the males. The white-browed woodswallow has a bifurcated (divided) tongue like most woodswallows.
The satin bowerbird is a bowerbird endemic to eastern Australia.
The scaly-breasted lorikeet is an Australian lorikeet found in woodland in eastern Australia. The common name aptly describes this bird, which has yellow breast feathers broadly edged with green that look like scales.
Albert's lyrebird is a timid, pheasant-sized songbird which is endemic to subtropical rainforests of Australia, in a small area on the state border between New South Wales and Queensland. The rarer of the two species of lyrebirds, Albert's lyrebird is named after Prince Albert, the prince consort of Queen Victoria, queen of the United Kingdom. It lacks the elegant lyre-shaped tail feathers of the superb lyrebird and is found in a much more restricted range.
The golden bowerbird is a species of bird in the family Ptilonorhynchidae, the bowerbirds. It is endemic to Queensland in Australia, where it is limited to the Atherton region.
The spotted catbird is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found in north Queensland, the eastern Moluccas and New Guinea. Although it is a member of the bowerbird family it does not build a bower.
The regent bowerbird is a medium-sized, up to 25 cm long, sexually dimorphic bowerbird. The male bird is black with a golden orange-yellow crown, mantle and black-tipped wing feathers. It has yellow bill, black feet and yellow iris. The female is a brown bird with whitish or fawn markings, grey bill, black feet and crown. The name commemorates a prince regent of the United Kingdom.
The tooth-billed bowerbird, also known as the stagemaker bowerbird or tooth-billed catbird, is a medium-sized bowerbird. It is a stocky olive-brown bird with brown-streaked buffish white underparts, grey feet, a brown iris and a distinctive serrated bill. Both sexes are similar, but the female is slightly smaller than the male. It is the only member of the genus Scenopoeetes.
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". The scientific name Ailuroedus is derived from the Greek 'ailouros', meaning cat, and 'eidos', referring to form.
The western bowerbird is a species of bird in the family Ptilonorhynchidae. The species is a common endemic of Australia. It has a disjunct distribution, occurring in Central Australia and the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The noisy pitta is a species of bird in the family Pittidae. The noisy pitta is found in eastern Australia and southern New Guinea. It eats earthworms, insects and snails. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.
Ficus obliqua, commonly known as the small-leaved fig, is a tree in the family Moraceae, native to eastern Australia, New Guinea, eastern Indonesia to Sulawesi and islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Previously known for many years as Ficus eugenioides, it is a banyan of the genus Ficus, which contains around 750 species worldwide in warm climates, including the edible fig. Beginning life as a seedling, which grows on other plants (epiphyte) or on rocks (lithophyte), F. obliqua can grow to 60 m (200 ft) high and nearly as wide with a pale grey buttressed trunk, and glossy green leaves.
The black-eared catbird is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found northern Queensland and New Guinea, including its surrounding islands. They are named after their cat-like wails and black ear spot. It is described by its Latin name: ailur-cat, oidos-singing, melas-black and otus-ear.
The Huon catbird is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found in northeastern New Guinea.
The Northern catbird is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found in central-northern New Guinea.
The black-capped catbird is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae), native to southeastern New Guinea.
The Arfak catbird is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found in the Bird's Head (Vogelkop) Peninsula in western New Guinea.