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Posts Tagged ‘Pachycephalidae’

Morningbird – A Voice In The Morning

Posted in Birds, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 17, 2013 | 2 Comments »

Morningbird (Colluricincla tenebrosa) by Margaret Sloan

Morningbird (Colluricincla tenebrosa) by Margaret Sloan

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. (Psalms 5:3 KJV)

The Morningbird (Colluricincla tenebrosa) is a songbird species in the family Pachycephalidae. It is also known a “Brown Pitohui, Morning Bird, Morning Pitohui, Morningbird, Palau Morning Bird, Palau Morningbird, and Palau Pitohui” (Avibase) At the present time it is a bird of “Least Concern” but it is hard to find a photo of it. That is what caught my attention to it. I liked its name. A recording of the Morningbird by Todd Mark (xeno-canto) made a remark that it was the “first loud singer of dawn chorus.” That seems to be appropriate according to the name it has been given,


Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. (Psalms 55:17 KJV)

Morningbird (Colluricincla tenebrosa) by Margaret Sloan

Morningbird (Colluricincla tenebrosa) by Margaret Sloan

The Morningbird is endemic to the islands of Babelthuap, Koror, Garakayo, Peleliu and Ngabad in Palau. Its natural habitat is deep primary tropical moist lowland forests. The species is non-migratory. It is apparently commoner on the smaller islands in its range. The feed principally on insects, but also take snails, berries, fruit, and seeds. They feed on or around the ground. Checking the internet, there are many birds called by that name because they sing in the morning, but very few photos. (Margaret Sloan just gave permission to use her photos of this bird, thanks.)

There are videos of a Morningbird Song. Most probably do not know that there actually is a “Morningbird.” Here is one verse of that song:

You are the blood of me
The harvest of my dreams
There’s nowhere I can find peace
And the silence won’t cease

Sorry, but just because a Morning Bird flew away, our lives should not be like those words. We can have peace and knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior is the only real peace anyone really receives. He is the way to peace:

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:1-6 KJV)

Palau Morningbird Pitohui © Mandy Etpison

But to You I cry, O Lord; and in the morning shall my prayer come to meet You. (Psalms 88:13 AMP)

The Morningbird (Colluricincla tenebrosa) is a member of the Pachycephalidae – Whistlers and Allies Family. There are presently 58 species that are assigned to that family by the IOC. Others place it in the Colluricinclidae family according to Wikipedia, yet I can’t find much about that family. They are closely related to the Shrike-thrushes and some sources list it as a Pitohui

(Wikipedia and other internet sources)

Links:

Gospel Message

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Ian’s Bird of the Week – (Norfolk Island) Golden Whistler

Posted in Bird of the Week, tagged , , , , , , , on May 4, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Ian’s Bird of the Week – (Norfolk Island) Golden Whistler ~ by Ian Montgomery

Newsletter: 5-4-12

My apologies for a belated bird of the week. When I was in Eungella recently chasing the so-named Honeyeater, I encountered a very obliging male Golden Whistler, below, so I’ve chosen it to introduce this week’s subject.

It’s one of the most gorgeous of the woodland birds of eastern and southern Australia and one of those unusual birds that, unlike Rainbow Lorikeets for example, both look and sound strikingly beautiful. It featured as bird of the week in January 2005, but I don’t suppose you’ll mind me repeating it and I want to share with you the interestingly different Norfolk Island equivalent.

The bird in the second photo, one of a pair we encountered, is, or could be, an adult male Norfolk Island Golden Whistler. I say ‘could be’ because there, the adult males do not develop the striking yellow and black plumage of the mainland races and remain ‘hen-plumaged’, to quote Schodde and Mason. This was recognised early on in the settlement of the island and it was original described as a separate species, the Norfolk Island Thickhead (Pachycephala means ‘thick-head’) P. xanthoprocta, where xanthoprocta refers to the yellow vent. Here is a painting of a pair by John Gould.

He has labelled the bird in the foreground as a male, and the one in the background as a female. There are subtle differences in plumage, with the female being more lemon-yellow underneath and the male being more buffish yellow and. having darker dark lores. I haven’t been able to find whether these differences are consistent, but it seemed to me that the bird in photo above (141464) looks more like the Gouldian male than its partner below (141440).

Mainland juvenile Golden Whistlers have rusty margins on the wing feathers and this is the case with the Norfolk Island birds, as shown in the next photo taken on a different occasion when we were hanging around waiting for the Norfolk Island Parakeets to show up.

To this day, the taxonomic status of the Golden Whistler ‘complex’ remains unresolved. There are different races on the mainland and in neighbouring locations such as New Guinea, New Britain and Fiji. The mangrove-inhabiting Golden Whistler of northern and western Australia has been elevated to specific status but the others have remained in the too-hard basket and are still lumped together as a single species. It seems to me unusual for avian taxonomists to be stumped by a problem like this, but maybe they’ve met their match.

Best wishes

Ian

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Ian Montgomery, Birdway Pty Ltd,
454 Forestry Road, Bluewater, Qld 4818
Tel 0411 602 737 ian@birdway.com.au
Check the latest website updates:
http://www.birdway.com.au/#updates
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Lee’s Addition:

Very interesting and a beautiful bird. I couldn’t resist finding out what this “whistler” sounds like. It is very pretty sounding. Take a listen.

Sound of Golden Whistler

In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. (Isaiah 7:18 ESV)

The Whistlers are found in the Pachycephalidae – Whistlers and Allies. There are 58 members of the family. This Australian Golden Whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis xanthoprocta) is one of those subspecies; there are at least 7 subspecies. The “Norfolks” are found on the Norfolk Island, as Ian mentioned.

The Norfolk Golden Whistler (P. p. xanthoprocta) declined for many years due to habitat loss and fragmentation and possible due to introduced predators such as the Black Rat. Most of the population is now restricted to the Norfolk Island National Park. This has resulted in it being listed as vulnerable by the Australian Government.

Links:

Check out Ian’s other Whistlers

Australian Golden Whistler – Wikipedia

Pachycephalidae – Whistlers and Allies

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