Alternative name: Schlegel's Whistler
- Pachycephala schlegelii
Identification
15 - 16.5cm.
Male
- Black head
- Yellow collar on hindneck
- White throat
- Dark olive-green upperparts
- Black upperwing and tail
- Black breast connected with black of nape and head
- Yellow rest of underparts, partly washed orange
Female
- Grey head
- Whitish throat with dusky mottling
- Grey upper breast
- Olive-green band on lower breast, rest of underparts yellow
Juveniles have a reddish-chestnut plumage.
Similar species
Very similar to pectoralis subspecies of Golden Whistler but no range overlap. Female looks similar like Lorentz's Whistler.
Distribution
Endemic to New Guinea.
Common to abundant in parts of its range.
Taxonomy
Three subspecies recognized:
- P. s. schlegelii in the mountains of the Vogelkop and Bomberai peninsula and the Wandammen Mountains in northwest New Guinea
- P. s. cyclopum in the Cyclops Mountains in north-central New Guinea
- P. s. obscurior in the mountain ranges from the Weyland mountains east to the Huon Peninsula
Formerly considered conspecific with Lorentz's Whistler but occurs sympatrically.
Habitat
Moist montanes, mainly above 1850m. Lower replaced by Sclater's Whistler and above 2700m by Lorentz's Whistler.
Behaviour
Feeds on insects, takes sometimes seeds.
Breeding recorded from July to September. Lays 2 eggs. No other information.
Resident species.
References
- Clements, JF. 2011. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to August 2011. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
- 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
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Regent Whistler. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Regent_Whistler
