Photo by Tom Tarrant
Tiritiri Matangi, North Island, New Zealand, January 2005
Alternative name: Tieke, Wattled Starling, Jackbird (juveniles of carunculatus)
- Philesturnus carunculatus
Identification
25cm.
- Glossy black plumage
- Prominent dark orange or red-brown saddle from mantle to rump, edged with narrow yellowish band in rufusater
- Slightly darker lores, giving impression of mask
- Red wattles extend from gape over malar area down to throat
- Black-brown eye, black eyering
- Strong, black slightly downcurved bill
Sexes similar, males are slightly larger. Juveniles of rufusater similar to adults, juveniles of carunculatus very different, dark brown plumage with chestnut wash on head and rump and dark lores. Immatures similar to adults.
Distribution
Endemic to New Zealand.
Extinct in most of its original range and now confined to small protected areas and some rat-free offshore islands.
Taxonomy
Two subspecies recognized which are sometimes treated as full species:
- P. c. carnculatus - South Island Saddleback - extreme northeast and southwest South Island and islands of Stewart Island
- P. c. rufusater - North Island Saddleback - islands of North Islands and some fenced areas on North Island.
Saddleback has previously been placed in genus Creadion.
Habitat
Native forest. Most populations live now in areas where they have been translocated.
Behaviour
Feeds on invertebrates and berries, takes sometimes nectar. It tears pieces of bark from tree trunks to find insects beneath, they will also feed on the ground in leaf litter.
Breeding depends on food availability, may breed three times or more in a good year. The nest is a medium-sized cup made of twigs and bound together with moss or lichens. It's placed in a hole or cavity in a trunk, sometimes on the ground in a rock crevice or among dense epiphytes. Lays 1-4 eggs (carnunculatus 1 - 2).
A sedentary species.
References
- 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.
- 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
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Saddleback. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 31 May 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Saddleback
