Oruguero Papú

Identificación

This species exhibits a short black mask extending from the beak to the eyes (lores) but not beyond with a fine white rear eye-ring. The head and upperparts including upper wings are pale blue-grey with tail feathers tending towards darker grey. Despite the name, the belly can be white to grey depending on region and subspecies. The subspecies Coracina papuensis robusta can present with a dark morph that has extensive black plumage on the neck and chest that can be barred at the edges. There is little variation between the sexes. Immature birds can have the underparts lightly barred and appear duller than adults with a less distinct black mask. This species can be mistaken for the black-faced cuckooshrike due to similar markings but is smaller with a more compact build.  An adult white-bellied cuckooshrike grows to between 22 and 29 cm and weighs 55–80 g.<p>The white-bellied cuckooshrike has a characteristic call that is described as a peevish kissik kissik or quiseek. It also produces a weak, squealing, slurred, repeating whee-eeyu or wee-year that has been likened to that of a parrot (Psittacidae). It is often spotted flying due to its distinct undulating pattern of flight where the species gains altitude by flapping its wings then holding its wings stiffly downward to glide.

Taxonomía

The white-bellied cuckooshrike was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the crows in the genus Corvus and coined the binomial name Corvus papuensis. Gmelin based his description on "Le Choucari de la Nouvelle Guinée" that had been described in 1775 by the French polymath the Comte de Buffon and illustrated with a hand-coloured engraving by François-Nicolas Martinet. The type location was restricted to Manokwari in the Indonesian province of West Papua by Erwin Stresemann in 1913. The white-bellied cuckooshrike is now one of 22 species placed in the genus Coracina that was introduced in 1816 by French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot.<p>Thirteen subspecies are recognised.

Nombre científico

Coracina papuensis

Autoridad

(Gmelin, JF, 1788)

Orden

Passeriformes

Familia

Campefágidos

Género

Coracina

Distribución y hábitat

The white-bellied cuckooshrike range includes parts of Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. In Australia it has been found throughout tropical northern Australia and eastern Australia including the northern parts of Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and southeast South Australia. The white-bellied cuckooshrike is common throughout Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and less common in Indonesia. In Indonesia the white-bellied cuckooshrike is commonly found in the northern Moluccas and occasionally found in Eastern Wallacea.<p>The white-bellied cuckooshrike thrives in many different habitats and vegetation types including, savanna, woodlands, Eucalyptus forests, riparian forest, rainforest, littoral forest, river redgum bushland, mangroves, open grasslands, coconut plantations, farmlands, and suburban gardens. It prefers lower-lying and forested habitats mainly below 800 m asl. They are predominantly sedentary or locally nomadic; however, the subspecies C. p. robusta can be considered migratory.

Migración

Especie residente

Comportamiento

Patrón migratorio: Especie residente.

Conservación

Tendencia poblacional: en aumento.

Tendencia poblacional

en aumento