White-throated Whistler
Encyclopedia
The White-throated Whistler (Pachycephala vitiensis) is a species of bird
in the Pachycephalidae
family, which is endemic to Fiji
(Kadavu, Gau
and the southern Lau Islands
) and the Solomons (northern and central Santa Cruz Islands
). It is variably considered a subspecies
of a widespread P. pectoralis
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. Furthermore, P. vitiensis often includes P. graeffii
as a subspecies, in which case the "combined" species is known as the Fiji Whistler (a name restricted to P. graeffii when split from P. vitiensis). While males of P. graeffii are yellow-throated, males of P. vitiensis are white-throated. It has been speculated that these two groups are the result of separate waves of colonisations, with the yellow-throated being the result of an early colonisation, and the white-throated the result of a secondary colonisation.
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, which is endemic to Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
(Kadavu, Gau
Gau Island
Gau is an island belonging to Fiji's Lomaiviti Archipelago. Located at 18.00° S and 179.30 °E, it covers an area of 136.1 square kilometers, with a total shoreline of 66.3 kilometers, making it the 5th largest island in the Fijian archipelago. Its maximum altitude is 738 meters...
and the southern Lau Islands
Lau Islands
The Lau Islands of Fiji are situated in the southern Pacific Ocean, just east of the Koro Sea. Of this chain of about one hundred islands and islets, about thirty are inhabited...
) and the Solomons (northern and central Santa Cruz Islands
Santa Cruz Islands
The Santa Cruz Islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands. They lie approximately 250 miles to the southeast of the Solomon Islands Chain...
). 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 P. pectoralis
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. Furthermore, P. vitiensis often includes P. graeffii
Fiji Whistler
The Fiji Whistler is a species of bird in the Pachycephalidae family, which is endemic to Fiji. It is variably considered a subspecies of a widespread P. pectoralis, a subspecies of P...
as a subspecies, in which case the "combined" species is known as the Fiji Whistler (a name restricted to P. graeffii when split from P. vitiensis). While males of P. graeffii are yellow-throated, males of P. vitiensis are white-throated. It has been speculated that these two groups are the result of separate waves of colonisations, with the yellow-throated being the result of an early colonisation, and the white-throated the result of a secondary colonisation.