Pilotbird
Pycnoptilus floccosus
Small, chunky bird with a cocked tail, found in wet forested areas and heathland in eastern Victoria and southeastern New South Wales. Dark chocolate brown plumage, with faintly mottled chest and rufous-tinted throat and rump. Forages on the ground, turning over leaf litter using strong legs. Call is loud and clear, easily remembered as a whistled "guinea-a-week."
识别特征
The pilotbird is a large, plump species of acanthizid, measuring around 18 centimetres (7.1 in) in length and weighing 27 grams (0.95 oz). The plumage of the underparts is reddish-brown with scalloping on the chest and the centre of the belly speckled dull white. The upperparts are chocolate-brown. The bill is short and finely pointed. Its tail is broad and semi-erect, and flicked up and down when feeding.
分类信息
The species was first described by English ornithologist John Gould in 1851. The generic name Pycnoptilus derives from the Ancient Greek pyknos 'thick' and ptilon 'feather'. Its specific epithet floccosus is Late Latin for 'flocked with wool'. There are two subspecies: the nominate subspecies Pycnoptilus floccosus floccosus lives in alpine areas; and P. f. sandfordi lives in lowland forest.
- 学名
- Pycnoptilus floccosus
- 命名信息
- Gould, 1851
- 目
- Passeriformes
- 科
- Acanthizidae
- 属
- Pycnoptilus
分布与栖息地
The pilotbird is found from the Wollemi National Park and Blue Mountains National Park in New South Wales through to the Dandenong Ranges, near Melbourne in Victoria. Its natural habitat is temperate wet sclerophyll forests and occasionally temperate rainforest, where there is dense undergrowth with abundant debris. It is sedentary and common.
- 迁徙
- Resident species
行为
Its name comes from its supposed habit of following lyrebirds, taking prey that they flush, and also from its call guiding bushmen seeking for lyrebirds. This habit is well known but seldom observed. The pilotbird is highly terrestrial, feeding on or near the ground and when disturbed it runs swiftly on strong legs. Its call has been described as "piercing and sweet". The male makes a far-carrying call of wit-wit-weet-WHEER to which the female may respond with a softer wit-a-wit-ee.<p>The breeding season for the pilotbird is from August to December. The globular nest is built with a side-entrance and hidden amongst the accumulated debris on the forest floor. It is an untidy construction of bark, ferns, dead leaves and rootlets. A clutch of usually two eggs, each measuring 27 by 20 mm (1.06 by 0.79 in) and varying in colour from grey-green to purple-brown, is incubated by the female for 20–22 days. During the nestling period, which lasts 14–17 days, the male will often feed the female or help with the care of the nestlings, if the female has a subsequent brood. The nests are sometimes parasitised by the fan-tailed cuckoo (Cacomantis flabelliformis).
保护状况
The pilotbird is fairly common within its small range, which has reduced as a result of forest clearance and urban development, but much of its habitat is within national parks or reserves. Its habitat is also threatened by climate change, severe weather and bushfires; nevertheless, the most recent assessment in October 2016 classified the pilotbird as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. The pilotbird was listed as Vulnerable under the EPBC Act in 2022, in response to the 2019/2020 Australian Bushfires, which burnt 47% of its distribution, and contributed to an estimated 30-50% decline in the population.
- 种群趋势
- declining
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
Solitary Tinamou
Tinamus solitarius
Large, dumpy, almost tailless terrestrial inhabitant of the Atlantic Forest, where it walks quietly through forests with an open understory. This tinamou has a gray-brown barred back and vent, pale gray on the belly with a prominent pale stripe on the side of the neck. Very secretive, best identified by song, a series of “frru” whistles with long silences between them.
Assam Laughingthrush
Trochalopteron chrysopterum
Shy skulker with golden wings and a long golden tail. Eastern populations in China have a gray head and orange crown, while western populations in far northeastern India and Myanmar have a dark rusty head. Forages on the ground in small flocks in dense brushy understory, sometimes with other laughingthrushes. Song is a repetitive series of inflected notes, including a wolf-whistle-like “whi’wi’er-wee!” and a shorter “whi’wi’eeer!”
Long-billed Spiderhunter
Arachnothera robusta
Well-named: bill is long even for a spiderhunter. Olive-brown above and bright yellow below with faint streaking on the chest. Combination of large size, streaking, an all-dark bill, and yellow belly serve to separate this species from similar spiderhunters in the region. Forages actively in the upper levels of lowland and foothill rainforest. Gives moderately spaced and rather toneless chips.
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