Gerygone
Encyclopedia
Gerygone, the gerygones or peep-warblers, is a genus of bird
in the Acanthizidae
family. The genus ranges from South East Asia through New Guinea
and Australia
to New Zealand
and the Chatham Islands
. Most of the species are found in Australia and New Guinea; only one, the Golden-bellied Gerygone
, has managed to cross Wallace's Line and colonise as far as Thailand
, Malaysia and the Philippines
.
Gerygones are insectivores which obtain most of their food by gleaning
and snatching in the foliage of trees and bushes. They are small, mostly weighing an average of 6–7 g, and show little variation in size across their range, except for the insular Chatham Gerygone, which is nearly twice as large as the rest of the genus.
Their songs are described as "simple but delightful", many descending in pitch, and some species are excellent mimics. "Gerygone" means "born of sound" (Magrath 2003).
The genus contains the following species:
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 Acanthizidae
Acanthizidae
The Acanthizidae, also known as the Australasian warblers, are a family of passerine birds which include gerygones, thornbills, and scrubwrens. The Acanthizidae consists of small to medium passerine birds, with a total length varying between 8 and 19 cm. They have short rounded wings, slender...
family. The genus ranges from South East Asia through New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and the Chatham Islands
Chatham Islands
The Chatham Islands are an archipelago and New Zealand territory in the Pacific Ocean consisting of about ten islands within a radius, the largest of which are Chatham Island and Pitt Island. Their name in the indigenous language, Moriori, means Misty Sun...
. Most of the species are found in Australia and New Guinea; only one, the Golden-bellied Gerygone
Golden-bellied Gerygone
The Golden-bellied Gerygone is a species of bird in the Acanthizidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.-References:*...
, has managed to cross Wallace's Line and colonise as far as Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Malaysia and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
.
Gerygones are insectivores which obtain most of their food by gleaning
Gleaning (birds)
Gleaning is a term for a feeding strategy by birds in which they catch invertebrate prey, mainly arthropods, by plucking them from foliage or the ground, from crevices such as rock faces and under the eaves of houses, or even, as in the case of ticks and lice, from living animals. This behavior is...
and snatching in the foliage of trees and bushes. They are small, mostly weighing an average of 6–7 g, and show little variation in size across their range, except for the insular Chatham Gerygone, which is nearly twice as large as the rest of the genus.
Their songs are described as "simple but delightful", many descending in pitch, and some species are excellent mimics. "Gerygone" means "born of sound" (Magrath 2003).
The genus contains the following species:
- Chatham Gerygone, Gerygone albofrontata
- Green-backed GerygoneGreen-backed GerygoneThe Green-backed Gerygone, Gerygone chloronotus, is a species of bird in the Acanthizidae family found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea....
, Gerygone chloronota - Yellow-bellied GerygoneYellow-bellied GerygoneThe Yellow-bellied Gerygone is a species of bird in the Acanthizidae family.It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.-References:...
, Gerygone chrysogaster - Mountain GerygoneMountain GerygoneThe Ashy Gerygone or Mountain Gerygone is a species of bird in the Acanthizidae family.It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.-References:...
, Gerygone cinerea - Rufous-sided GerygoneRufous-sided GerygoneThe Rufous-sided Gerygone is a species of bird in the Acanthizidae family.It is endemic to Indonesia.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests....
, Gerygone dorsalis - Fan-tailed GerygoneFan-tailed GerygoneThe Fan-tailed Gerygone is a species of bird in the Acanthizidae family.It is found in New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on 26 July 2007....
, Gerygone flavolateralis - Western GerygoneWestern GerygoneThe Western Gerygone is a species of bird in the Acanthizidae family.It is endemic to Australia.Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.-References:...
, Gerygone fusca - Grey Gerygone, Gerygone igata
- Plain GerygonePlain GerygoneThe Plain Gerygone is a species of bird in the Acanthizidae family. It is found in Indonesia and East Timor. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests....
, Gerygone inornata - Lord Howe GerygoneLord Howe GerygoneThe Lord Howe Gerygone , also known as the Lord Howe Island Flyeater or, locally, as the "Rain-bird" or "Pop-goes-the-weasel", was a small bird in the Acanthizidae family which was endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, part of New South Wales, Australia...
, Gerygone insularis – extinct (c.1930) - Mangrove GerygoneMangrove GerygoneThe Mangrove Gerygone is a species of bird in the Australian warbler family Acanthizidae. The species is also known as the Mangrove Warbler. The species is thought to form a superspecies with the closely related Fan-tailed Gerygone of Melanesia and the Australian Western Gerygone. There are three...
, Gerygone levigaster - Norfolk Island GerygoneNorfolk Island GerygoneThe Norfolk Gerygone is a species of bird in the Acanthizidae family.It is endemic to Norfolk Island.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, and pastureland.It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:* BirdLife...
, Gerygone modesta - White-throated GerygoneWhite-throated GerygoneThe White-throated Gerygone is a species of bird in the Acanthizidae family.It is found in Australia and Papua New Guinea.Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests....
, Gerygone olivacea - Fairy GerygoneFairy GerygoneThe Fairy Gerygone is a species of bird in the Acanthizidae family.-Distribution and habitat:It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.-References:* BirdLife...
, Gerygone palpebrosa - Brown-breasted GerygoneBrown-breasted GerygoneThe Treefern Gerygone or Brown-breasted Gerygone is a species of bird in the Acanthizidae family.It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.-References:...
, Gerygone ruficollis - Golden-bellied GerygoneGolden-bellied GerygoneThe Golden-bellied Gerygone is a species of bird in the Acanthizidae family. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.-References:*...
, Gerygone sulphurea - Dusky GerygoneDusky GerygoneThe Dusky Gerygone is a species of bird in the Acanthizidae family.It is endemic to Australia.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.-References:...
, Gerygone tenebrosa - Brown GerygoneBrown GerygoneThe Brown Gerygone , previously known as the Brown Warbler, is a small passerine bird native to eastern coastal Australia. The upper parts of the Brown Gerygone are a deep olive-grey or olive-brown, while its face and underparts are a much paler grey, cream, or washed-out brown. The tail feathers...
, Gerygone mouki - Large-billed GerygoneLarge-billed GerygoneThe Large-billed Gerygone is a species of bird in the Acanthizidae family. The Biak Gerygone, formerly considered a distinct species, is now placed herein as a subspecies .- References :...
, Gerygone magnirostris- Biak GerygoneBiak GerygoneThe Biak Gerygone is a subspecies of the Large-billed Gerygone, but it is sometimes considered a distinct species...
, Gerygone magnirostris hypoxantha
- Biak Gerygone