| Yellow chat | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Meliphagidae |
| Genus: | Epthianura |
| Species: | E. crocea |
| Binomial name | |
| Epthianura crocea | |
The yellow chat (Epthianura crocea) is a small passerine bird endemic to Australia. [2] They are known for their remarkable adaptions that aid their survival in their arid habitat. [3]
The yellow chat is a Passeriform in the family Meliphagidae. [4] They were formally considered a separate family (Epthianuridae) until the discovery of their brush tongue [4] and results from a DNA analysis led to their classification as honeyeaters in the family Meliphagidae. [5] They are one of four species in the genus Epthianura , with the other three being the crimson chat (E. tricolor), the orange chat (E. aurifrons) and the white-fronted chat (E. albifrons). [6] The derivation of the generic name Epthianura (Gould, 1838) is obscure, coming either from the Ancient Greek ephthos 'refined' or ephthinaō 'wasting away' and oura 'tail' (referring to Gould's description of chats as having a "short and truncated tail"). [7] The specific epithet crocea is from Latin croceus 'golden-yellow'. [8]
Four subspecies of Epthianura crocea were initially identified; [9] however, only three are currently recognised. These subspecies are primarily distinguished by their morphological variances in the adult males' breeding plumages. [5]
The yellow chat is a small passerine bird usually seen in groups of 2-10 individuals. [12] They are approximately 11 cm (4.3 in) tall and weigh 9 g (0.32 oz). [2] They are sexually dimorphic with the adult male having a bright golden-yellow forehead and underparts with a prominent black crescent breast band. [13] The crown and nape are a grey-olive colour, the back is yellowish-brown and the tail is black with yellow tips on the feathers. [13] The female is of similar colouring to the male but with a paler yellow colour and with no breast band. [14] The juveniles are distinguished by being more greyish-brown in colour than the yellow displayed by their parents. [10] All yellow chats, including juveniles, have a distinctive yellow rump when in flight. [5] They have relatively long legs and toes, allowing them to forage with ease for food over low vegetation and on the ground. [5] Yellow chats can also be identified by their distinctive, high-pitched and tuneful pee pee call. [15]
The yellow chat occurs patchily throughout northern Australia, ranging across the arid zone from north-eastern South Australia and south-western Queensland to the north-west of the Northern Territory. There are some isolated populations in eastern Queensland and in north-west Western Australia. [16] Their habitat is subject to high temperatures for most of the year and contains marshy plains vegetated with saltbush, rank grasses, or cumbungi reeds. [3] [9] These marshes have been formed by marine lagoons or inland artesian bore drains, creating a saline environment. [3] This distribution includes the central arid region and the hot, subhumid monsoonal region. Most of the annual rainfall falls during the summer monsoon, leaving the remaining six months of the year with little rainfall. [3]
It has been presumed that yellow chats would encounter problems living in their harsh, arid environment with high ambient temperatures, low ambient humidities and small amounts of surface water. [3] Birds with small body weights are predicted to have high metabolic rates. [17] Furthermore, small body weights will also lead to a higher rate of evaporative water loss compared to larger birds. [18] These predictions suggest that the small body size of the yellow chats combined with their hot, dry, arid environment will result in heat stress and a high loss of water. This could be detrimental in their habitat where water is scarce. [3]
Despite these predictions, yellow chats are able to prosper in their hot, arid habitat. Studies have found that the physiology of the yellow chats differs from other species of passerines with adaptations to help them cope with the challenging environment. [3] Studies have shown that they are able to reduce their metabolic rate and evaporative water loss. [19] The metabolic rate is mostly controlled by the concentration of thyroid hormone. [20] Yellow chats have adapted to have lower levels of this hormone circulating in their body, resulting in a slower metabolism. [19] This adaptation enables them to thrive in their harsh hot and dry environment.
Another suggested adaptation to help yellow chats survive in the arid region is their brush tongue. The brush tongue may be an adaptation to aid in retrieving drinking water. [19] It allows the birds access to dew and the capability to drink thin water films, such as water seepages on surfaces of plants. [19] Furthermore, the colour of their plumage is an adaptation aiding in their thermoregulation. Black pigments have been observed to increase heat absorption, with lighter colours absorbing less heat. [21] This suggests that the yellow colouring of the yellow chats is an adaptation to reduce the amount of heat absorbed in their body. [19]
The yellow chat is a predominately insectivorous bird. [2] They scavenge for their food in damp substrates, low vegetation or in shallow water. [22]
Breeding season for the yellow chat has been observed from November to January after sufficient rain has fallen. [23] At the beginning of the breeding season, the flocks disperse and male-female pairs form. The male follows his mate until egg-laying commences. [19] The male defends their breeding territory by bill-clicking and chasing intruders. [19] The female builds the nest close to the ground in small shrubs, usually samphire (Tecticornia) or in dense grass. [16] The nests are made from vegetation such as fine twigs, rootlets, and grasses. The inside of the cup is lined with hair, usually horse or cow, and fine grasses. [16] The female lays a clutch of two or three white to pinkish-white eggs, measuring 17 mm × 13 mm (0.67 in × 0.51 in) and marked with some reddish-brown splotches. [16] [24] Incubation of the eggs is approximately two weeks and alternates between the male and female. [10]
The spinifex pigeon, also known as the plumed-pigeon or gannaway pigeon, is one of four endemic Australian bird species within the genus Geophaps. It occurs within a broader group known as bronzewing pigeons. This species is listed under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List category of "least concern". It most frequently occurs in arid and semi-arid habitats containing hummock-forming grasses of the genera Triodia and Plectrachne.
The white-plumed honeyeater is a small passerine bird endemic to Australia. White-plumed honeyeaters are common around water and are often seen in backyards and suburbs with vegetation cover.
The yellow-faced honeyeater is a small to medium-sized bird in the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae. It takes its common and scientific names from the distinctive yellow stripes on the sides of its head. Its loud, clear call often begins twenty or thirty minutes before dawn. It is widespread across eastern and southeastern Australia, in open sclerophyll forests from coastal dunes to high-altitude subalpine areas, and woodlands along creeks and rivers. Comparatively short-billed for a honeyeater, it is thought to have adapted to a diet of flies, spiders, and beetles, as well as nectar and pollen from the flowers of plants, such as Banksia and Grevillea, and soft fruits. It catches insects in flight as well as gleaning them from the foliage of trees and shrubs.
The white-throated honeyeater is a bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to New Guinea and eastern and northern Australia. It is 11.5 to 14.5 cm long, olive-green above and white below, with a black head, a white or pale blue patch over the eye, and a white stripe across the nape.
The white-eared honeyeater is a medium-sized honeyeater found in Australia. It is a member of the family Meliphagidae which has 190 recognised species with about half of them found in Australia. This makes them members of the most diverse family of birds in Australia. White-eared honeyeaters are easily identifiable by their olive-green body, black head and white ear-patch.
The yellow-throated miner is a species of colonial honeyeater, endemic to Australia. It is also known as the white-rumped miner. The distinctive white rump is easy to observe in the field and distinguishes it from the other miner species. Yellow-throated miners are medium-sized, grey passerines with yellow throat markings, legs, and bare patches around the eye. The common name 'miner' is an alternative spelling of the word myna, mynah or minah, and is shared with other members of the genus Manorina. Though miners were originally named due to their resemblance to the common myna of India that shares similar yellow eye-patch and legs, common mynas are from the starling family and are not closely related to the honeyeater family. Common mynas are an aggressive introduced pest in Australia, which causes some confusion with the native aggressive miners.
The helmeted honeyeater is a passerine bird in the honeyeater family. It is a distinctive and critically endangered subspecies of the yellow-tufted honeyeater, that exists in the wild only as a tiny relict population in the Australian state of Victoria, in the Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve. It is Victoria's only endemic bird, and was adopted as one of the state's official symbols.
The grey grasswren is a passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is found on arid inland floodplains of Australia where it is endemic. The grey grasswren is a rarely seen elusive bird that was first sighted in 1921 but not taxonomically described until 1968. Its greyish coloration and very long tail distinguish it from all other grasswrens. While some recent research has been conducted, there still remain many gaps in the knowledge about the ecology of this cryptic bird.
The gibberbird is a species of chat within the Meliphagidae family of passerine birds.
The pied honeyeater is a species of bird in the family of honeyeaters Meliphagidae and the sole species in the genus Certhionyx. This species is also known as the black and white honeyeater or western pied honeyeater.
The bristlebirds are a family of passerine birds, Dasyornithidae. There are three species in one genus, Dasyornis. The family is endemic to the south-east coast and south-west corner of Australia. The genus Dasyornis was sometimes placed in the Acanthizidae or, as a subfamily, Dasyornithinae, along with the Acanthizinae and Pardalotinae, within an expanded Pardalotidae, before being elevated to full family level by Christidis & Boles (2008).
The white-fronted chat is a species of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to southern Australia. The male has a white face bordered by a black breast band. It is insectivorous.
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.
The orange chat is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is endemic to Australia.
The crescent honeyeater is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to southeastern Australia. A member of the genus Phylidonyris, it is most closely related to the common New Holland honeyeater and the white-cheeked honeyeater. Two subspecies are recognized, with P. p. halmaturinus restricted in range to Kangaroo Island and the Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia.
The grey-headed honeyeater is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is endemic to Australia.
The red-backed fairywren is a species of passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is endemic to Australia and can be found near rivers and coastal areas along the northern and eastern coastlines from the Kimberley in the northwest to the Hunter Region in New South Wales. The male adopts a striking breeding plumage, with a black head, upperparts and tail, and a brightly coloured red back and brown wings. The female has brownish upperparts and paler underparts. The male in eclipse plumage and the juvenile resemble the female. Some males remain in non-breeding plumage while breeding. Two subspecies are recognised; the nominate M. m.melanocephalus of eastern Australia has a longer tail and orange back, and the short-tailed M. m. cruentatus from northern Australia has a redder back.
The black-chinned honeyeater is a species of passerine bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is endemic to Australia. Two subspecies are recognised. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical dry forests.
The red-headed myzomela or red-headed honeyeater is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. It was described by John Gould in 1840. Two subspecies are recognised, with the nominate race M. e. erythrocephala distributed around the tropical coastline of Australia, and M. e. infuscata in New Guinea. Though widely distributed, the species is not abundant within this range. While the IUCN lists the Australian population of M. e. infuscata as being near threatened, as a whole the widespread range means that its conservation is of least concern.
The Capricorn silvereye, also known as the Capricorn white-eye or green-headed white-eye, is a small greenish bird in the Zosteropidae or white-eye family. It is a subspecies of the silvereye that occurs on islands off the coast of Queensland in north-eastern Australia, and which is sometimes considered to be a full species.
