Pitohui
The pitohuis
Taxonomy and systematics
The Pitohui species were formerly all classified in the genus Pitohui, which at the time was in the family Pachycephalidae. In 2013 they were separated into several different genera in several different families.[3]
The species are now separated into three families as follows:
Oreoicidae
- Ornorectescristatus)
Pachycephalidae
- Melanorectesnigrescens)
- White-bellied pitohui (Pseudorectes incertus)
- Rusty pitohui (Pseudorectes ferrugineus)
Oriolidae
- Northern variable pitohui (Pitohui kirhocephalus)
- Raja Ampat pitohui (Pitohui cerviniventris)
- Southern variable pitohui (Pitohui uropygialis)
- Hooded pitohui (Pitohui dichrous)
Description
Pitohuis are brightly coloured, omnivorous birds. The hooded pitohui has a brick red belly and a jet-black head. The variable pitohui, as its name implies, exists in many different forms, and 20 subspecies with different plumage patterns have been named. Two of them, however, closely resemble the hooded pitohui.
Behaviour and ecology
The skin and feathers of some pitohuis, especially the
The birds' bright colours are suggested to be an example of aposematism (warning colouration), and the similarity of the hooded pitohui and some forms of the variable pitohui might then be an example of Müllerian mimicry, in which dangerous species gain a mutual advantage by sharing colouration, so an encounter with either species trains a predator to avoid both.[6]
Relationship to humans
Due to the toxicity of these birds, Papua New Guineans call the pitohuis rubbish birds and do not eat them; in desperate times, however, they can be consumed only after the feathers and skin have been removed and the flesh is coated in charcoal and then roasted (Piper, 2007).
See also
- Batrachotoxin
- Toxic birds
References
- ^ Birkhead, Tim (2012). Bird Sense: What it's like to be a bird. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 120.
- ^ Dumbacher, John P. (2014). "A taxonomic revision of the genus Pitohui Lesson, 1831 (Oriolidae), with historical notes on names" (PDF). Bull.B.O.C. 134 (1): 19–22.
- ^ "Taxonomy 3.1-3.5 « IOC World Bird List". www.worldbirdnames.org. Retrieved 2017-01-29.
- ^ (Dumbacher, et al., 1992)
- ^ (Dumbacher, et al., 2004). Archived 2012-08-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ (Dumbacher & Fleischer, 2001)
- del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Christie D. (editors). (2007). ISBN 978-84-96553-42-2
- Dumbacher JP, Beehler BM, Spande TF, Garraffo HM, Daly JW (1992). "PMID 1439786.
- Dumbacher JP, Fleischer RC (2001). "Phylogenetic evidence for colour pattern convergence in toxic pitohuis: Mullerian mimicry in birds?". PMID 11571042.
- Dumbacher JP, Wako A, Derrickson SR, Samuelson A, Spande TF, Daly JW (2004). "Melyrid beetles (Choresine): a putative source for the batrachotoxin alkaloids found in poison-dart frogs and toxic passerine birds". PMID 15520388.
- Piper, R. Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals, Greenwood Press
External links
- Fugu, Poison Frogs, and Pitohuis by Harold B. White
- Picture of a hooded pitohui at the Wayback Machine (archive index)