Samoan Whistler

Pachycephala flavifrons

A small bird with strikingly bright golden underparts and slate-gray upperparts. The small golden eyebrow reaches the eye but doesn’t extend behind it. Some birds show a golden or white forehead. Throat can be or yellow, white, or yellowish grizzled with gray. Widespread, but more common in natural habitats. Voice includes a melodious sequence of whistles, “tweet-chew-twee-titi-chew-weet.”

Identification

The Samoan whistler resembles the Australian golden whistler, but the male has blacker upperparts, yellow or white to the forehead, a dull black throat that is strongly mottled with yellow or white, and no black chest-band. The female resembles a duller version of the male with a pale grey throat.

Taxonomy

The Samoan whistler was originally described in the genus Eopsaltria. It has been previously considered a subspecies of the Australian golden whistler, Pachycephala pectoralis, as P. pectoralis flavifrons.

Scientific name
Pachycephala flavifrons
Authority
(Peale, 1849)
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Pachycephalidae
Genus
Pachycephala

Range and habitat

Migration
Resident species

Conservation

Population trend
stable

Photos

Distribution

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American Black Duck

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