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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