From Opus

Male
Photo by The Magpie
Western Australia, July 2005

Alternative names: Rufous-breasted Whistler; Rufous-breasted Thickhead; Northern Thickhead; Pale-breasted Thickhead

Pachycephala rufiventris

[edit] Identification

16 -18cm. Large head, short stubby bill and a narrow, long tail with a square or slightly forked tip. Male dark-grey above with a white throat, black breast and a reddish underbody. Many males also have a black face mask (except in northern subspecies). Wings and tail are blackish-brown.
Females are dull grey to brown, with streaked underparts. Young birds are much redder than adults and have heavily streaked underparts.

[edit] Distribution

Female
Photo by Nora
Woodlands Historic Park, Victoria, Australia, November 2008

Australia and New Caledonia.
Fairly common in its range.

[edit] Taxonomy

Five subspecies recognized:

• P. r. minor on Bathurst Island and Meville Island off northern Australia
• P. r. falcata in northwest Western Australia and northern third of Northern Territory
• P. r. pallida in northeast Australia (Cape York Peninsula and northwest Queensland)
• P. r. rufiventris in the southern four-fifths of mainland Australia
• P. r. xanthetraea in New Caledonia

White-bellied Whistler, Black-headed Whistler and Wallacean Whistler have been treated as subspecies of this species in the past.

[edit] Habitat

Forests, woodlands and shrublands, gardens and farmland with some trees, and in remnant bushland patches. Mainly in lowlands up to 450m.

[edit] Behaviour

Immature
Photo by julien
Eagle Point, Victoria, Australia, February 2006

The diet includes insects, and sometimes seeds, fruit or leaves. Feeds mainly among foliage.
Breeding season from July to March (peak from October to November) in Australia. The female builds a cup-shaped nest from twigs, grass, and vines, bound and attached to a tree fork with spider web. Lays 2 - 3 eggs. Two broods may be produced in a season. Both sexes incubate the eggs and care for the young.
Resident in most of its range, partly migratory in eastern Australia but movements poorly understood.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2007. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553422
3. Simpson, K and N Day. 1998. Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7136-4877-5

• List of references

[edit] External Links

• View movie-clip (in Google-Video format) here