Red-lored Whistler
Pachycephala rufogularis
Chunky gray songbird with a heavy black bill found in dry forest and bushland in parts of semi-arid southern Australia. Male has pale orange throat that extends above bill, gray breast, and paler belly. Female similar, but plumage tones more muted and paler. Compare Gilbert’s Whistler, which is darker in front of the eye, and the orange chin does not extend above the bill. Many different calls, including a repeated "chew-chew-chew-chew," a Rufous-Whistler-like "eee-chong," and other tuneful whistles.
Identification
The male has an orange/buff face and throat, a grey breastband extending around the neck and over the head and rufous underparts with pale yellow/olive edging to primaries. Some males are reported having a buff collar. The female is similar but with paler throat and underparts with a hint of buff. The eye is red, and bill and legs are dark. They weigh 30-38g and have a length of 19–22 cm. Unlike other whistler species the throat colour of the red-lored whistler extends upwards to include the lores and face, distinguishing it from the closely related and similar Gilbert's whistler (Pacycephalas inornata) which also has a red throat. Females and juveniles of both species are very similar, making them harder to distinguish although the red-lored whistler has a slightly more buff colouring. Field identification is further compounded by the fact that the range of the red-lored whistler fits wholly within that of Gilbert’s whistler. Both species share the same habitat and have similar behaviour and calls. John Gould, who described both species, was not familiar with the Gilbert's whistler at the time he identified the red-lored whistler: this is surprising, as the path that he travelled took him through areas where the Gilbert's whistler is not uncommon. It is possible that, in the absence of specimens, even Gould confused the two species.
Taxonomy
The scientific name refers to the red throat, lores and face and literally translates to thick head red throat (pachy – 'thick'; cephala – 'head'; rufo – 'red'; gularis – 'throat'). Whistlers were once known as thickheads. Alternate names include buff- breasted, red-throated or rufous-throated whistler or thickhead, and red-lored thickhead.<p>The monotypic red-lored whistler is a part of the corvoid radiation of oscine passerines, although there remains no clear consensus as to the position of whistlers within the Corvoidea or to the relationships within the Pachycephalidae.
- Scientific name
- Pachycephala rufogularis
- Authority
- Gould, 1841
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Pachycephalidae
- Genus
- Pachycephala
Range and habitat
The red-lored whistler is a bird of the low mallee, spinifex, cypress pine and broombush woodland in the desert of central New South Wales, north-western Victoria and adjacent south-eastern South Australia, preferring low mallee woodlands or shrublands with open canopy, above a moderately dense but patchy scrub layer. Preferred vegetation has a post-fire age of 4–40 years, but it is most abundant in areas with a post-fire age of 21–40 years.<p>The species has long been regarded as sedentary, although the type specimen was collected in the Adelaide area suggesting some movement does occur. In South Australia, it is generally restricted to the Ninety Mile Desert country and mostly limited to the Riverland Biosphere Reserve. It is now regularly observed north of the Murray River at Gluepot Reserve. The population on the Eyre Peninsula is thought to be extinct. In central New South Wales the red-lored whistler is restricted to the mallee within Round Hill Nature Reserve and nearby Nombinnie Nature Reserve where it is regularly observed, although it was previously recorded at Scotia in south-western New South Wales. In Victoria, the red-lored whistler can be found in the Ngarkat / Big Desert / Wyperfield complex and the Murray-Sunset / Hattah complex of National Parks.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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