Pachycephala

Pachycephala
	Adult male rufous whistler; (Pachycephala rufiventris)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Pachycephalidae
Subfamily:	Pachycephalinae
Genus:	Pachycephala; Vigors, 1825
Type species
	Muscicapa pectoralis; Latham, 1801
Synonyms
	Alisterornis; Hyloterpe; Lewinornis; Muscitrea;

Pachycephala is a genus of birds native to Oceania and Southeast Asia. They are commonly known as typical whistlers. Older guidebooks may refer to them as thickheads, a literal translation of the generic name, which is derived from the Ancient Greek terms pachys "thick" + kephale "head". This lineage originated in Australo-Papua and later colonized the Indonesian and Philippine archipelagos to the west and the Pacific archipelagos to the east.^[1]

Taxonomy

The genus Pachycephala was introduced in 1825 by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Vigors with the Australian golden whistler as the type species.^[2]^[3] The name is derived from the Ancient Greek pakhus meaning "large" or "thick" and kephalē meaning "head".^[4]

The genus contains 53 species:^[5]

Olive whistler, Pachycephala olivacea
Red-lored whistler, Pachycephala rufogularis
Gilbert's whistler, Pachycephala inornata
Mangrove whistler, Pachycephala cinerea
Green-backed whistler, Pachycephala albiventris
White-vented whistler, Pachycephala homeyeri
Island whistler, Pachycephala phaionota
Biak whistler, Pachycephala melanorhyncha
Rusty whistler, Pachycephala hyperythra
Brown-backed whistler, Pachycephala modesta
Yellow-bellied whistler, Pachycephala philippinensis
Sulphur-vented whistler, Pachycephala sulfuriventer
Bornean whistler, Pachycephala hypoxantha
Vogelkop whistler, Pachycephala meyeri
Grey whistler, Pachycephala simplex
Fawn-breasted whistler, Pachycephala orpheus
Sclater's whistler, Pachycephala soror
Rusty-breasted whistler, Pachycephala calliope (formerly P. fulvotincta)
Selayar whistler, Pachycephala teysmanni (split from P. calliope)
Yellow-throated whistler, Pachycephala macrorhyncha
Baliem whistler, Pachycephala balim
Black-chinned whistler, Pachycephala mentalis
Australian golden whistler, Pachycephala pectoralis
Western whistler, Pachycephala fuliginosa
Bismarck whistler, Pachycephala citreogaster
Oriole whistler, Pachycephala orioloides
Louisiade whistler, Pachycephala collaris
Rennell whistler, Pachycephala feminina
Melanesian whistler, Pachycephala chlorura
New Caledonian whistler, Pachycephala caledonica
White-throated Fiji whistler, Pachycephala vitiensis (formerly Fiji whistler before split)
Yellow-throated Fiji whistler, Pachycephala graeffii (split from P. vitiensis)
Nendo whistler, Pachycephala ornata (split from P. vanikorensis)
Utupua whistler, Pachycephala utupuae (split from P. vanikorensis)
Vanikoro whistler, Pachycephala vanikorensis (formerly Temotu whistler before splits)
Tongan whistler, Pachycephala jacquinoti
Mangrove golden whistler, Pachycephala melanura
Samoan whistler, Pachycephala flavifrons
Hooded whistler, Pachycephala implicata
Bougainville whistler, Pachycephala richardsi
Bare-throated whistler, Pachycephala nudigula
Lorentz's whistler, Pachycephala lorentzi
Regent whistler, Pachycephala schlegelii
Golden-backed whistler, Pachycephala aurea
Rufous whistler, Pachycephala rufiventris
Black-headed whistler, Pachycephala monacha
White-bellied whistler, Pachycephala leucogastra
Babar whistler, Pachycephala sharpei (split from P. macrorhyncha)
Wallacean whistler, Pachycephala arctitorquis
Drab whistler, Pachycephala griseonota
Cinnamon-breasted whistler, Pachycephala johni
White-breasted whistler, Pachycephala lanioides
Morningbird, Pachycephala tenebrosa

Former species

Formerly, some authorities also considered the following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus Pachycephala:

Maroon-backed whistler (as Pachycephala raveni)^[6]
Little shrikethrush (fortis) (as Pachycephala fortis)^[7]

An unidentified Pachycephala whistler was heard on May 14, 1994 at 1,000 meters ASL south of the summit of Camiguin in the Philippines, where the genus was not previously known to occur. It might have been an undescribed taxon, or simply a vagrant of a known species.^[8]