Black-throated robin

The black-throated robin (Plesiodryas albonotata) is a species of passerine bird in the Australisian robin family Petroicidae. It is found on the island of New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests at 1,150โ€“2,750 metres above sea-level.

Black-throated robin
Illustration by Keulemans, 1879
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Petroicidae
Genus: Plesiodryas
Mathews, 1920
Species:
P. albonotata
Binomial name
Plesiodryas albonotata
(Salvadori, 1875)
Synonyms
  • Poecilodryas albonotata

Taxonomy

The black-throated robin was described by the Italian zoologist, Tommaso Salvadori, in 1875, from a specimen collected in the Arfak Mountains on the island of New Guinea. He coined the binomial name Megalestes albonotatus.[2] It was moved to the genus Poecilodryas by the English zoologist, Richard Bowdler Sharpe, in 1879.[3] A 2011 molecular phylogenetic study found that the black-throated robin was the most divergent member of Poecilodryas.[4] The species is now the only species placed in the resurrected genus Plesiodryas that had been introduced by the Australian ornithologist, Gregory Mathews, in 1820.[5][6]

Description

Measuring 18 to 19 cm (7.1 to 7.5 in), the black-throated robin has a grey-black face, throat and upper breast with a grey crown and nape, and a white diagonal mark on the neck. The upperparts are blue-grey, and the underparts grey to white over the abdomen and under the tail coverts. The bill and legs are black, and the eyes are dark brown. The plumage is reminiscent of a cuckoo-shrike, but the white neck marking is diagnostic.[7]

The black-throated robin is found predominantly in rainforests along the central highlands of New Guinea, from the Bird's Head Peninsula in the west to the Huon Peninsula in the east, at altitudes from 1,800 to 2,750 m (5,900 to 9,000 ft). Within the rainforest, it is found singly in the understory or on the ground. It is insectivorous, and hunts by gleaning.[7]

References

  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Plesiodryas albonotata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22704883A93989935. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22704883A93989935.en. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. Salvadori, Tommaso (1875). "Intorno a due collezioni di uccelli di Celebes: Note". Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova (in Latin and Italian). 7: 641โ€“796 [770].
  3. Sharpe, R. Bowdler (1879). Catalogue of the Passeriformes or Perching Birds in the Collection of the British Museum. Cichlomorphae Part 1. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Vol. 4. London: Trustees of the British Museum. p. 245.
  4. Christidis, L.; Irestedt, M.; Rowe, D.; Boles, W.E.; Norman, J.A. (2011). "Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA phylogenies reveal a complex evolutionary history in the Australasian robins (Passeriformes: Petroicidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 61 (3): 726โ€“738. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.08.014. PMID 21867765.
  5. Mathews, Gregory (1920). Birds of Australia. Vol. 8. London: Witherby. p. 185.
  6. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Australasian robins, rockfowl, rockjumpers, Rail-babbler". World Bird List Version 9.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  7. Coates, Brian J. (1990). The Birds of Papua New Guinea. Volume II. Queensland: Dove Publications. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-9590257-1-2. OCLC 153651608.

Further reading


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.