Sahul Cicadabird
Edolisoma tenuirostre
Woodland bird of eastern and northern Australia and New Guinea. Strong sexual dimorphism in plumage. Male dark slaty-gray, with black around bill, and black on wings. Female brown, with dark line through eye, extensive fine barring on chest and belly, and fairly plain brown wings (much browner and lacking the white wingbars of Varied Triller). Shows geographical variation, especially in female plumage. Found in the canopy of a wide variety of forest, woodland, scrub, and savanna habitats. Calls include a long (10-second) sequence of insect-like repeated buzzes (hence its name), also a slower version, and a robin-like sequence of clear whistled notes.
Identification
The Sahul cicadabird (Edolisoma tenuirostre), previously known as the common cicadabird or slender-billed cicadabird, is a species of passerine bird in the family Campephagidae. It is found in Australia, New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago. Its natural habitats are temperate forest and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. The species is placed in the reinstated genus Edolisoma by most authors. The common cicadabird was described as a "great speciator" by Mayr & Diamond (2001); and Pedersen et al. (2018) described how this species rapidly colonized and diversified across the Indo-Pacific island region and Australia in the Pleistocene.
Taxonomy
Genus: Edolisoma; Family: Campephagidae; Order: Passeriformes.
- Scientific name
- Edolisoma tenuirostre
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Campephagidae
- Genus
- Edolisoma
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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