The Melanesian Whistler (Pachycephala caledonica) is a species of passerine

Passerine

A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...

 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 whistler family 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...

. It is found in New Caledonia

New Caledonia

New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...

 (including the main island, Isle of Pines

Isle of Pines, New Caledonia

The Isle of Pines is an island located in the Pacific Ocean, in the archipelago of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France. The island is part of the commune of L'Île-des-Pins, in the South Province of New Caledonia. The Isle of Pines is nicknamed l'île la plus proche du paradis...

 and Loyalty Islands

Loyalty Islands

The Loyalty Islands are an archipelago in the Pacific. They are part of the French territory of New Caledonia, whose mainland is away. They form the Loyalty Islands Province , one of the three provinces of New Caledonia...

), Vanuatu

Vanuatu

Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...

, and Vanikoro

Vanikoro

Vanikoro is an island from the Santa Cruz group, located 118 km to the Southeast of the main Santa Cruz group. It belongs administratively to the Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands....

 in far southeastern Solomons. Alternatively, all except the nominate subspecies are treated as subspecies of the 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...

. In that case, P. caledonica is known as the New Caledonian Whistler, and restricted to the main island of New Caledonia and the nearby Isle of Pines. In the past, even the nominate subspecies has been treated as a subspecies of the Golden Whistler.

It inhabits humid forest, including degraded forest and forest edges, from sea level up to at least 900 metres (2,952.8 ft). They are relatively common in suitable habitat, particularly below 300 metres (984.3 ft), and are not considered threatened by the IUCN. The species is sedentary.

Description

The species is a medium sized whistler, typically around 14–16 cm (5.5–6.3 in) in length and weighing 18–25 g (0.634931317892015–0.881849052627799 oz), though some subspecies are larger. In the nominate subspecies the male has a dark slate-grey crown, face and nape, a white throat, ochraceous-yellow belly and rump, and olive back and wings with a black line between the throat and belly. The legs are dark brown. Males of other subspecies share the white throat, but are less ochraceous below, and may –depending on the exact subspecies involved– have a far broader black band between the throat and belly, and a black or olive crown, face and nape.

In the nominate subspecies the female is duller than the male with a buff belly and rump, no line between the throat and belly, and an olive-brown head, back and wings. The legs are lighter brown than in the male. Females of some other subspecies have a yellow belly, and a greyish, brownish or olive throat.

Ecology

The Melanesian Whistler feeds on insects, also taking snails and seeds. It feeds in thefoliage of trees and shrubs, and on the branches, presumably in a similar fashion to the closely related Golden Whistler. At least in New Caledonia, the breeding season for this species is from December to January. A small nest (6 cm in diameter) is built out of sticks and spider web and suspended from small branches above the ground. Two eggs, which are white and blotched with brown, are laid and incubated

Avian incubation

Incubation refers to the process by which certain oviparous animals hatch their eggs, and to the development of the embryo within the egg. The most vital factor of incubation is the constant temperature required for its development over a specific period. Especially in domestic fowl, the act of...

by both parents.