Utupua whistler

Utupua whistler
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Pachycephalidae
Genus: Pachycephala
Species:
P. utupuae
Binomial name
Pachycephala utupuae
Mayr, 1932

The Utupua whistler (Pachycephala utupuae) is a passerine bird in the family Pachycephalidae that is endemic to the island of Utupua in the Santa Cruz Islands of the western Pacific Ocean. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of the Vanikoro whistler. Prior to the split the combined species were known by the English name "Temotu whistler".

Taxonomy

The Utupua whistler was formally described in 1932 by the American ornithologist Ernst Mayr based on specimens collected during the Whitney South Sea Expedition to the small island of Utupua in the Santa Cruz Islands. These islands form part of the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Mayr considered his specimens to be a subspecies of what is now the Australian golden whistler and coined the trinomial name Pachycephala pectoralis utupuae.[1][2] The Utupua whistler was previously considered to be a subspecies of the Vanikoro whistler (Pachycephala vanikorensis) but is now classified as a separate species based the striking differences in female plumage.[3] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.[3]

References

  1. ^ Mayr, Ernst (1932). "Birds collected during the Whitney South Sea Expedition. 21, Notes on thickheads (Pachycephala) from Polynesia". American Museum Novitates (531): 8. hdl:2246/4212.
  2. ^ Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 12. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 29.
  3. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024). "Whiteheads, sittellas, Ploughbill, Australo-Papuan bellbirds, Shriketit, whistlers". IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 21 September 2024.