Oreoicidae

Oreoicidae
Crested bellbird, Oreoica gutturalis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Superfamily:Corvoidea
Family:Oreoicidae
Schodde & Christidis, 2014
Genera

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 Aleadryas with the rufous-naped bellbird; Ornorectes which conatins the piping bellbird; and Oreoica, which contains the crested bellbird.

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) .[1]

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.[1]

Taxonomic list

Three monotypic genera,

  • Aleadryas
  • Ornorectes
  • Oreoica

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.[1][2][3] They also all have semi-erectile crests and shrike-like bills. The plumage is either the same between the sexes (as in the rufous-naped and piping bellbird) or slightly different (as in the crested bellbird).[1][4]

Distribution and habitat

The family occupies a range of habitats. Two species, the rufous-naped bellbird and the piping bellbird, 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 piping bellbird, or montane forest and secondary forest in the case of the rufous-naped bellbird.[3][2] The crested bellbird occupies drier habitats in Australia including dry woodlands and scrublands.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Schodde, R.; Christidis, L. (2014). "Relicts from Tertiary Australasia: undescribed families and subfamilies of songbirds (Passeriformes) and their zoogeographic signal". Zootaxa. 3786 (5): 501–522.
  2. 1 2 Boles, W. (2017). Rufous-naped Whistler (Aleadryas rufinucha). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/59331 on 17 March 2017).
  3. 1 2 Boles, W. (2017). Crested Pitohui (Pitohui cristatus). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/59378 on 17 March 2017).
  4. 1 2 Boles, W. (2017). Crested Bellbird (Oreoica gutturalis). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/59330 on 17 March 2017).
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