Pachycephala

Pachycephala
Adult male rufous whistler (Pachycephala rufiventris)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Pachycephalidae
Subfamily:	Pachycephalinae
Genus:	Pachycephala Vigors, 1825
Type species
Muscicapa pectoralis Latham, 1801
Synonyms
Alisterornis Hyloterpe Lewinornis Muscitrea

Pachycephala is a genus of birds native to Oceania and Southeast Asia. They are commonly known as typical whistlers. Older guidebooks may refer to them as thickheads, a literal translation of the generic name, which is derived from the Ancient Greek terms pachys "thick" + kephale "head". This lineage originated in Australo-Papua and later colonized the Indonesian and Philippine archipelagos to the west and the Pacific archipelagos to the east. ^[1]

Taxonomy

The genus Pachycephala was introduced in 1825 by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Vigors with the Australian golden whistler as the type species. ^{[2] [3]} The name is derived from the Ancient Greek pakhus meaning "large" or "thick" and kephalē meaning "head". ^[4]

The genus contains 53 species: ^[5]

• Olive whistler, Pachycephala olivacea
• Red-lored whistler, Pachycephala rufogularis
• Gilbert's whistler, Pachycephala inornata
• Mangrove whistler, Pachycephala cinerea
• Green-backed whistler, Pachycephala albiventris
• White-vented whistler, Pachycephala homeyeri
• Island whistler, Pachycephala phaionota
• Biak whistler, Pachycephala melanorhyncha
• Rusty whistler, Pachycephala hyperythra
• Brown-backed whistler, Pachycephala modesta
• Yellow-bellied whistler, Pachycephala philippinensis
• Sulphur-vented whistler, Pachycephala sulfuriventer
• Bornean whistler, Pachycephala hypoxantha
• Vogelkop whistler, Pachycephala meyeri
• Grey whistler, Pachycephala simplex
• Fawn-breasted whistler, Pachycephala orpheus
• Sclater's whistler, Pachycephala soror
• Tenggara whistler, Pachycephala calliope (formerly P. fulvotincta and formerly rusty-breasted whistler)
• Selayar whistler, Pachycephala teysmanni (split from P. calliope)
• Yellow-throated whistler, Pachycephala macrorhyncha
• Baliem whistler, Pachycephala balim
• Black-chinned whistler, Pachycephala mentalis
• Australian golden whistler, Pachycephala pectoralis
• Western whistler, Pachycephala fuliginosa
• Bismarck whistler, Pachycephala citreogaster
• Oriole whistler, Pachycephala orioloides
• Louisiade whistler, Pachycephala collaris
• Rennell whistler, Pachycephala feminina
• Melanesian whistler, Pachycephala chlorura
• New Caledonian whistler, Pachycephala caledonica
• White-throated Fiji whistler, Pachycephala vitiensis (formerly Fiji whistler before split)
• Yellow-throated Fiji whistler, Pachycephala graeffii (split from P. vitiensis)
• Nendo whistler, Pachycephala ornata (split from P. vanikorensis)
• Utupua whistler, Pachycephala utupuae (split from P. vanikorensis)
• Vanikoro whistler, Pachycephala vanikorensis (formerly Temotu whistler before splits)
• Tongan whistler, Pachycephala jacquinoti
• Mangrove golden whistler, Pachycephala melanura
• Samoan whistler, Pachycephala flavifrons
• Hooded whistler, Pachycephala implicata
• Bougainville whistler, Pachycephala richardsi
• Bare-throated whistler, Pachycephala nudigula
• Lorentz's whistler, Pachycephala lorentzi
• Regent whistler, Pachycephala schlegelii
• Golden-backed whistler, Pachycephala aurea
• Rufous whistler, Pachycephala rufiventris
• Black-headed whistler, Pachycephala monacha
• White-bellied whistler, Pachycephala leucogastra
• Babar whistler, Pachycephala sharpei (split from P. macrorhyncha)
• Wallacean whistler, Pachycephala arctitorquis
• Drab whistler, Pachycephala griseonota
• Cinnamon-breasted whistler, Pachycephala johni
• White-breasted whistler, Pachycephala lanioides
• Morningbird, Pachycephala tenebrosa

Former species

Formerly, some authorities also considered the following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus Pachycephala:

• Maroon-backed whistler (as Pachycephala raveni) ^[6]
• Little shrikethrush (fortis) (as Pachycephala fortis) ^[7]

An unidentified Pachycephala whistler was heard on May 14, 1994 at 1,000 meters ASL south of the summit of Camiguin in the Philippines, where the genus was not previously known to occur. It might have been an undescribed taxon, or simply a vagrant of a known species. ^[8]

References

1. Jønsson, K.A. et al. (2014) Evidence of taxon cycles in an Indo-Pacific passerine bird radiation (Aves: Pachycephala). Proc. R. Soc. B.
2. Vigors, Nicholas Aylward (1825). "Observations on the natural affinities that connect the orders and families of birds". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 14 (3): 395–517 [444]. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1823.tb00098.x.
3. Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 12. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 8.
4. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 288. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024). "Whiteheads, sittellas, Ploughbill, Australo-Papuan bellbirds, Shriketit, whistlers". IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
6. "Coracornis raveni - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-29.
7. "Colluricincla megarhyncha fortis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-02-17.
8. Balete, Danilo S.; Tabaranza, Blas R. Jr. & Heaney, Lawrence R. (2006) An Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Camiguin Island, Philippines. Fieldiana Zool. New Series106: 58–72.