Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Order Passerine | Class Aves Rank Family | |
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Similar Australian mudnester, Malagasy warbler, Passerine, Mohoidae, Painted berrypecker | ||
Oreoicidae is a newly recognized family of small insectivorous songbirds, the Australo-Papuan bellbirds. The family contains three genera, each containing a single species. The genera are Oreoica, which contains the crested bellbird; Ornorectes which conatins the crested pitohui, and Aleadryas with the rufous-naped whistler.
Contents
Taxonomy and systematics
The three species contained in the family have been moved around between different families for fifty years, including the Colluricinclidae (shrike-thrushes), Falcunculidae (shrike-tits) and Pachycephalidae (whistlers). A series of studies of the DNA of Australian birds between 2006 and 2001 found strong support for treating the three genera as a new family, which was formally named in 2016 (although the name had first been proposed by Sibley and Ahlquist in 1985 .
Within the passerines the relationship of the Australo-Papuan bellbirds to other bird families has been difficult to establish, at one time they have been thought to be close to a range of families including the cuckoo-shrikes, whistlers, false-whistlers (Rhagologidae), crested berrypeckers, butcherbirds and woodswallows and Old World orioles.
Description
The family shares a small number of characteristics. They are small medium to medium sized songbirds with stout bodies, ranging from 16.5 to 18 cm (6.5–7.1 in) in length for the rufous-naped whistler to 25 to 26 cm (9.8–10.2 in) in the crested pitohui. They also all have semi-erectile crests and shrike-like bills. The plumage is either the same between the sexes (as in the pitohui and whistler) or slightly different (as in the crested bellbird).
Distribution and habitat
The family occupies a range of habitats. Two species, the crested pitohui and red-naped whistler, are endemic to New Guinea, whilst the crested bellbird is endemic to Australia. The two New Guinean species are found in rainforest; lowland and hill forest in the crested pitohui, or montane forest and secondary forest in the case of the rufous-naped whistler. The crested bellbird occupies drier habitats in Australia including dry woodlands and scrublands.