Lord Howe currawong

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Lord Howe currawong
Strepera graculina crissalis.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Artamidae
Genus: Strepera
Species: S. graculina
Subspecies:S. g. crissalis
Trinomial name
Strepera graculina crissalis
Sharpe, 1877
Synonyms
  • Strepera crisalis

The Lord Howe currawong (Strepera graculina crissalis), Lord Howe Island currawong or Lord Howe pied currawong, is a large and mainly black passerine bird in the Artamidae family. It is endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, part of New South Wales, Australia, and is a threatened subspecies of the pied currawong.

Passerine Any bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds

A passerine is any bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or – less accurately – as songbirds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by the arrangement of their toes, which facilitates perching.

Artamidae family of birds

Artamidae is a family of passerine birds found in Australia, the Indo-Pacific region, and Southern Asia. It includes 24 extant species in six genera and three subfamilies: Peltopsinae, Artaminae and Cracticinae. Artamids used to be monotypic, containing only the woodswallows, but it was expanded to include the family Cracticidae in 1994. Some authors, however, still treat the two as separate families. Some species in this family are known for their beautiful song. Their feeding habits vary from nectar sucking (woodswallows) to predation on small birds.

Endemism ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location or habitat

Endemism is the ecological state of a species being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation, country or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. The extreme opposite of endemism is cosmopolitan distribution. An alternative term for a species that is endemic is precinctive, which applies to species that are restricted to a defined geographical area.

Contents

Description

The currawong is similar to the other subspecies of the pied currawong. It is generally a black bird with yellow eyes, white on the wing, undertail coverts, the base of the tail and tip of the tail. Compared with the nominate subspecies of eastern Australia it has a longer and more slender bill, less white on the wings and tail, and a paler iris. [1] [2]

Illustration by Keulemans, 1877 StreperaCrisalisKeulemans.jpg
Illustration by Keulemans, 1877
In the forest Lord Howe Island Currawong.jpg
In the forest

Distribution and habitat

The currawong is restricted to the Lord Howe Island group where it inhabits the main island's native subtropical rainforest and palm forest, especially along creeks and in gullies, as well as areas around human habitation. [3] [4]

Rainforest type of forest with high rainfall

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with annual rainfall in the case of tropical rainforests between 250 and 450 centimetres, and definitions varying by region for temperate rainforests. The monsoon trough, alternatively known as the intertropical convergence zone, plays a significant role in creating the climatic conditions necessary for the Earth's tropical rainforests.

Forest dense collection of trees covering a relatively large area

A forest is a large area dominated by trees. Hundreds of more precise definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing and ecological function. According to the widely used Food and Agriculture Organization definition, forests covered 4 billion hectares (9.9×109 acres) (15 million square miles) or approximately 30 percent of the world's land area in 2006.

Behaviour

The Lord Howe currawong has a strong sense of curiosity, often following walkers on the island's tracks. They are aggressive during the breeding season and will swoop at walkers who approach their nests. [5]

Feeding

The currawong is a predator and an omnivore. The birds forage widely throughout the island and offshore seabird colonies. They take small birds and the young of many birds, including domestic poultry, as well as seeds and fruits. [6]

Omnivore organism consuming a variety of foods, usually including both plants and animals

An omnivore is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutrients and energy of the sources absorbed. Often, they have the ability to incorporate food sources such as algae, fungi, and bacteria into their diet.

Breeding

The currawong breeds in territories in the forest that contain a section of gully or watercourse lined with tall timber. It has been estimated that the island is large enough to contain 35-40 territories. [7] The bird builds a cup-shaped nest of sticks and twigs, lined with finer twigs, in the outer branches of a tree, in which it lays a clutch of three light brown eggs, marked with darker blotches. The incubation period is 21 days and the time from hatching to fledging about 30. [8] [9]

Voice

The currawong has a distinct loud and melodious call.

Status and conservation

In 2000 the population was estimated to comprise about 80 mature breeding birds. [10] The taxon is listed as Vulnerable under Australia's EPBC Act because of its small and restricted population and occasional persecution due to its predatory habits. [11] [12]

Notes

  1. ↑ Hindwood, pp.70-71.
  2. ↑ Higgins et al, p.553.
  3. ↑ Schodde & Mason, p.552.
  4. ↑ Higgins et al, p.532.
  5. ↑ Hutton, pp.120-121.
  6. ↑ Garnett & Crowley, p.574.
  7. ↑ Garnett & Crowley, p.574.
  8. ↑ Hindwood, p.71.
  9. ↑ Hutton, p.121.
  10. ↑ Garnett & Crowley, p.574.
  11. ↑ Higgins et al, p.533.
  12. ↑ Garnett & Crowley, p.574.

Related Research Articles

Currawong genus of birds

Currawongs are three species of medium-sized passerine birds belonging to the genus Strepera in the family Artamidae native to Australasia. These are the grey currawong, pied currawong, and black currawong. The common name comes from the call of the familiar pied currawong of eastern Australia and is onomatopoeic. They were formerly known as crow-shrikes or bell-magpies. Despite their resemblance to crows and ravens, they are only distantly related to the corvidae, instead belonging to an Afro-Asian radiation of birds of superfamily Malaconotoidea.

Grey currawong Large passerine bird native to southern Australia and Tasmania

The grey currawong is a large passerine bird native to southern Australia, including Tasmania. One of three currawong species in the genus Strepera, it is closely related to the butcherbirds and Australian magpie of the family Artamidae. It is a large crow-like bird, around 48 cm (19 in) long on average, with yellow irises, and a heavy bill, and dark plumage with white undertail and wing patches. The male and female are similar in appearance. Six subspecies are recognised and are distinguished by overall plumage colour, which ranges from slate-grey for the nominate from New South Wales and eastern Victoria and subspecies plumbea from Western Australia, to sooty black for the clinking currawong of Tasmania and subspecies halmaturina from Kangaroo Island. All grey currawongs have a loud distinctive ringing or clinking call.

Black currawong A large black passerine bird endemic to Tasmania and Bass Strait islands

The black currawong, also known locally as the black jay, is a large passerine bird endemic to Tasmania and the nearby islands within the Bass Strait. One of three currawong species in the genus Strepera, it is closely related to the butcherbirds and Australian magpie within the family Artamidae. It is a large crow-like bird, around 50 cm (20 in) long on average, with yellow irises, a heavy bill, and black plumage with white wing patches. The male and female are similar in appearance. Three subspecies are recognised, one of which, Strepera fuliginosa colei of King Island, is vulnerable to extinction.

Pied currawong A medium-sized black passerine bird native to eastern Australia and Lord Howe Island

The pied currawong is a medium-sized black passerine bird native to eastern Australia and Lord Howe Island. One of three currawong species in the genus Strepera, it is closely related to the butcherbirds and Australian magpie of the family Artamidae. Six subspecies are recognised. It is a robust crowlike bird averaging around 48 cm (19 in) in length, black or sooty grey-black in plumage with white undertail and wing patches, yellow irises, and a heavy bill. The male and female are similar in appearance. Known for its melodious calls, the species' name currawong is believed to be of indigenous origin.

Cracticinae subfamily of birds

The Cracticinae, bellmagpies and allies, gathers together 12 species of mostly crow-like birds native to Australasia and nearby areas.

Lord Howe woodhen species of bird

The Lord Howe woodhen also known as the Lord Howe Island woodhen or Lord Howe (Island) rail, is a flightless bird of the rail family, (Rallidae). It is endemic to Lord Howe Island off the Australian coast. It is currently classified as endangered by the IUCN.

Pied butcherbird A black and white songbird native to Australia

The pied butcherbird is a songbird native to Australia. Described by John Gould in 1837, it is a black and white bird 28 to 32 cm long with a long hooked bill. The head and throat are black, making a distinctive hood, as well as the mantle, and much of the tail and wings. The neck, underparts and outer wing feathers are white. The juvenile and immature birds are predominantly brown and white. As they mature their brown feathers are replaced by black feathers. Two subspecies are recognized.

Rufous fantail species of bird

The rufous fantail is a small Passerine bird, most commonly known also as the black-breasted rufous-fantail or rufous-fronted fantail, which can be found in Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. In these countries they inhabit rainforests, wet forests, swamp woodlands and mangroves.

Goulds petrel species of bird

Gould's petrel is a species of seabird in the family Procellariidae. The common name commemorates the English ornithologist and bird artist John Gould (1804-1881).

Black-backed butcherbird species of bird

The black-backed butcherbird is a species of bird in the family Artamidae. It is found in southern New Guinea and Cape York Peninsula.

Lord Howe gerygone species of bird

The Lord Howe gerygone was a small bird in the family Acanthizidae, brown and greyish in color. Its head was brown apart from a pale grey eye-ring and a grey throat and chin, many parts of the animal varied to the colour of yellow, this being apparent in its bright yellow belly. It made its home in the canopies of the island's forest until the early 20th century. The bird has had a variety of monikers: locally, it was known as the "rain-bird" due to its activity after the rains, or the "pop-goes-the-weasel", due to the similarity of its song to the well-known tune. Another name for this bird is the Lord Howe gerygone flyeater. The bird was endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea. There have been no records of the species since 1928, and it is considered to be extinct. Its extinction is almost certainly due to predation by black rats which were accidentally introduced to the island in 1918 following the shipwreck of the SS Makambo there.

Lord Howe silvereye subspecies of very small omnivorous passerine bird of the south-west pacific

The Lord Howe silvereye, also known as the Lord Howe white-eye, Lord Howe Island white-eye or, locally, as the "Little Grinnell", is a small bird in the white-eye family, Zosteropidae. It is a subspecies of the silvereye, though sometimes considered a full species. It is endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, part of New South Wales, Australia.

Lord Howe fantail subspecies of bird

The Lord Howe fantail, also known as the Lord Howe Island fantail or fawn-breasted fantail, was a small bird in the fantail family, Rhipiduridae. It is an extinct subspecies of the New Zealand fantail. It was endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, part of New South Wales, Australia.

Lord Howe boobook subspecies of bird

The Lord Howe boobook, also known as the Lord Howe morepork, was a bird in the true owl family endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, part of New South Wales, Australia. It is an extinct and little-known subspecies of the Southern boobook.

Lord Howe parakeet species of bird

The Lord Howe parakeet, also known as the Lord Howe red-fronted parakeet, is an extinct parrot endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, part of New South Wales, Australia. It was described as full species by Tommaso Salvadori in 1891, but subsequently it has been regarded as subspecies of the red-crowned parakeet. In 2012, the IOC World Bird List recognised it as species.

Lord Howe golden whistler subspecies of bird

The Lord Howe golden whistler, also known as the Lord Howe whistler or Lord Howe Island golden whistler, and locally as the “robin” or “yellow robin”, is a small bird in the whistler family, Pachycephalidae. It is a subspecies of the Australian golden whistler that is endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, part of New South Wales, Australia.

Norfolk golden whistler subspecies of bird

The Norfolk golden whistler, also known as the Norfolk Island whistler or Norfolk Island thickhead, and locally as the “tamey”, is a small bird in the whistler family, Pachycephalidae. It is a subspecies of the Australian golden whistler and endemic to Norfolk Island, an Australian territory in the Tasman Sea, between Australia and New Zealand.

Norfolk robin species of bird

The Norfolk robin, also known as the Norfolk Island scarlet robin or Norfolk Island robin, is a small bird in the Australasian robin family, Petroicidae. It is endemic to Norfolk Island, an Australian territory in the Tasman Sea, between Australia and New Zealand.

The Christmas emerald dove, also known as the Christmas green-winged pigeon, is a bird in the pigeon family, Columbidae. It is a distinctive subspecies of the common emerald dove that is endemic to Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the eastern Indian Ocean.

Lord Howe is generally used referring to the British title of Earl Howe, and has been held by several people.

References

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