The Banda Sea Whistler (Pachycephala macrorhyncha), also known as the Yellow-throated Whistler (leading to easy confusion with the Oriole Whistler

Oriole Whistler

The Oriole Whistler , also known as the Yellow-throated Whistler , is a species of bird in the Pachycephalidae family, which is endemic to the Solomon Islands, and the islands of Bougainville and Buka in far eastern Papua New Guinea...

), is a species of bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 in the Pachycephalidae

Pachycephalidae

The family Pachycephalidae, collectively the whistlers, includes the whistlers, shrike-thrushes, shrike-tits, pitohuis and Crested Bellbird, and is part of the ancient Australo-Papuan radiation of songbirds. Its members range from small to medium in size, and occupy most of Australasia...

 family. It is endemic to central and south-eastern Wallacea

Wallacea

Wallacea is a biogeographical designation for a group of Indonesian islands separated by deep water straits from the Asian and Australian continental shelves. Wallacea includes Sulawesi, the largest island in the group, as well as Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Timor, Halmahera, Buru, Seram, and...

, where it ranges from Timor

Timor

Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...

 east to the Tanimbars

Tanimbar Islands

The Tanimbar Islands, also called Timor Laut, are a group of about 65 islands in the Maluku province of Indonesia, including Fordata, Larat, Maru, Molu, Nuswotar, Selaru, Selu, Seira, Wotap, Wuliaru and Yamdena.-Geography:...

 and north to Seram

Seram

Seram is an island in the Maluku province of Indonesia. It is located north of Ambon Island. The chief port/town is Masohi.- Geography and geology :...

 and Banggai

Banggai

Banggai Archipelago is a group of islands, which is located at the far eastern end of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. It makes up a newly established regency after splitting out of Luwuk. It is surrounded by the Banda Sea's Gulf of Tolo , and the Molucca Sea...

 (roughly equalling the islands in or adjacent to the Banda Sea

Banda Sea

The Banda Sea is a sea in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, technically part of the Pacific Ocean but separated from it by hundreds of islands, as well as the Halmahera and Ceram Seas...

). It is variably considered a subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 of a widespread Golden Whistler

Golden Whistler

The Australian Golden Whistler is a species of bird found in forest, woodland, mallee, mangrove and scrub in Australia and in mountain forest in the Snow Mountains in the Papua Province of Indonesia. Most populations are resident, but some in south-eastern Australia migrate north during the winter...

 or treated as a separate species, but strong published evidence in favour of either treatment is limited, and further study is warranted to resolve the complex taxonomic situation.

Among the members of the Golden Whistler group, the Banda Sea Whistler is bordered to the north by the Black-chinned Whistler

Black-chinned Whistler

The Black-chinned Whistler is a species of bird in the Pachycephalidae family, which is endemic to Halmahera and adjacent smaller islands in North Maluku in Indonesia. It is variably considered a subspecies of a widespread Golden Whistler The Black-chinned Whistler (Pachycephala mentalis) is a...

, to the west by the Rusty-breasted Whistler

Rusty-breasted Whistler

The Rusty-breasted Whistler , also known as the Fulvous-tinted Whistler, is a species of bird in the Pachycephalidae family. It is endemic to Indonesia, where it ranges from Java east to Alor and north to the Selayar Islands...

, and to the south by the Australian Golden Whistler. Despite the alternative common name Yellow-throated Whistler, the only subspecies of the Banda Sea Whistler where the male is yellow-throated is fuscoflava from the Tanimbar Islands. Males of other subspecies are white-throated, except par (Romang Island) and compar (Leti Islands) where the plumage

Plumage

Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...

s of the males are female-like.