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Category:Ptilonorhynchidae - BirdForum Opus

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Avenue bower of a Great Bowerbird
Photo by Hans&Judy Beste

Family: Ptilonorhynchidae

Description

Bowerbirds form a monophyletic family with 20 closely related species. They occur in Australia and New Guinea.
They share several characters (of legs, feet, palate, syrinx and sperm) which are not unique to them but define them as distinctive family.
Three groups can be formed according to their breeding behaviour:

  • The Catbirds of the genus Ailuroedus form long-standing monogamous pairs. Their courtship is simple and unspectacular.
  • The males of the genera Scenopoeetes, Archboldia, Amblyornis and Prionodura build maypole or stage-bowers. They range from rather simple to huge and complex, mostly extensively decorated with various items of various colours. They perform a complex display when a female arrives. Like the next group they are polygynous, the male builds and attends the bower to attract many females, the female builds and attends the nest alone.
  • The males of the genera Sericulus, Ptilonorhynchus and Chlamydera build avenue-type bowers which are also decorated. Their size varies but they are usually smaller than maypole-type bowers.

Taxonomy

Ptilonorhynchidae is a family in the Order Passeriformes.
The taxonomic position of the bowerbirds has long been unclear and they have been included in the Birds-of-paradise. Now their status as a distinct family is widely accepted. Their closest relatives seem to be the Australian Treecreepers and the Lyrebirds.


Family Ptilonorhynchidae view • edit

Genus Ailuroedus view • edit
A. buccoides White-eared Catbird
A. stonii Ochre-breasted Catbird
A. geislerorum Tan-capped Catbird
A. maculosus Spotted Catbird
A. astigmaticus Huon Catbird
A. melanocephalus Black-capped Catbird
A. jobiensis Northern Catbird
A. arfakianus Arfak Catbird
A. melanotis Black-eared Catbird
A. crassirostris Green Catbird

Genus Scenopoeetes view • edit
S. dentirostris Tooth-billed Bowerbird

Genus Archboldia view • edit
A. papuensis Archbold's Bowerbird

Genus Amblyornis view • edit
A. inornata Vogelkop Bowerbird
A. macgregoriae MacGregor’s Bowerbird
A. subalaris Streaked Bowerbird
A. flavifrons Golden-fronted Bowerbird

Genus Prionodura view • edit
P. newtoniana Golden Bowerbird

Genus Sericulus view • edit
S. aureus Masked Bowerbird
S. ardens Flame Bowerbird
S. bakeri Fire-maned Bowerbird
S. chrysocephalus Regent Bowerbird

Genus Ptilonorhynchus view • edit
P. violaceus Satin Bowerbird

Genus Chlamydera view • edit
C. guttata Western Bowerbird
C. maculata Spotted Bowerbird
C. nuchalis Great Bowerbird
C. lauterbachi Yellow-breasted Bowerbird
C. cerviniventris Fawn-breasted Bowerbird

References

  1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
  2. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2009. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553507

Recommended Citation

Subcategories

This category has the following 8 subcategories, out of 8 total.

A

C

P

S

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