Birds Guide

Pachycephalidae
Colluricincla harmonica
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia   Phylum: Chordata   Class: Aves   Order: Passeriformes   Family: Pachycephalidae Swainson, 1831
Subfamilies
Falcunculinae Pachycephalinae

The family Pachycephalidae includes the whistlers, shrike-thrushes, shrike-tits, pitohuis and Crested Bellbird, and is part of the Australo-Papuan corvid lineage. Its members range from small to medium in size, and occupy most of Australasia: Australia in particular, but also New Guinea, New Zealand, and in the case of the whistlers, the South Pacific islands and parts of Indonesia.

Several species belonging to this family are outstanding songsters: the whistlers produce an astonishing volume for their size, and the lyrebirds aside, the Grey Shrike-thrush is often regarded as the finest, most inventive songbird of them all.

Some authorities list thickhead as an alternative common name to whistler.

Species of Pachycephalidae

• Subfamily Falcunculinae
  • Whitehead, Mohoua albicilla
    Yellowhead, Mohoua ochrocephala
    Pipipi, Mohoua novaeseelandiae
    Crested Shrike-tit, Falcunculus frontatus
    Crested Bellbird, Oreoica gutturalis
    Mottled Whistler, Rhagologus leucostigma
• Subfamily Pachycephalinae
  • Dwarf Whistler, Pachycare flavogrisea
    Olive-flanked Whistler, Hylocitrea bonensis
    Maroon-backed Whistler, Coracornis raveni
    Rufous-naped Whistler, Aleadryas rufinucha
    Olive Whistler, Pachycephala olivacea
    Red-lored Whistler, Pachycephala rufogularis
    Gilbert's Whistler, Pachycephala inornata
    Mangrove Whistler, Pachycephala grisola
    Green-backed Whistler, Pachycephala albiventris
    White-vented Whistler, Pachycephala homeyeri
    Island Whistler, Pachycephala phaionotus
    Rusty Whistler, Pachycephala hyperythra
    Brown-backed Whistler, Pachycephala modesta
    Bornean Whistler, Pachycephala hypoxantha
    Sulphur-bellied Whistler, Pachycephala sulfuriventer
    Vogelkop Whistler, Pachycephala meyeri
    Yellow-bellied Whistler, Pachycephala philippinensis
    Gray-headed Whistler, Pachycephala griseiceps
    Fawn-breasted Whistler, Pachycephala orpheus
    Gray Whistler, Pachycephala simplex
    Golden Whistler, Pachycephala pectoralis
    Sclater's Whistler, Pachycephala soror
    Lorentz's Whistler, Pachycephala lorentzi
    Black-tailed Whistler, Pachycephala melanura
    New Caledonian Whistler, Pachycephala caledonica
    Samoan Whistler, Pachycephala flavifrons
    Tongan Whistler, Pachycephala jacquinoti
    Regent Whistler, Pachycephala schlegelii
    Bare-throated Whistler, Pachycephala nudigula
    Hooded Whistler, Pachycephala implicata
    Golden-backed Whistler, Pachycephala aurea
    Drab Whistler, Pachycephala griseonota
    Wallacean Whistler, Pachycephala arctitorquis
    Black-headed Whistler, Pachycephala monacha
    White-bellied Whistler, Pachycephala leucogastra
    Rufous Whistler, Pachycephala rufiventris
    White-breasted Whistler, Pachycephala lanioides
    Sooty Shrike-thrush, Colluricincla umbrina
    Rufous Shrike-thrush, Colluricincla megarhyncha
    Sangihe Shrike-thrush, Colluricincla sanghirensis
    Bower's Shrike-thrush, Colluricincla boweri
    Sandstone Shrike-thrush, Colluricincla woodwardi
    Grey Shrike-thrush, Colluricincla harmonica
    Morningbird, Colluricincla tenebrosa
    Hooded Pitohui, Pitohui dichrous
    White-bellied Pitohui, Pitohui incertus
    Rusty Pitohui, Pitohui ferrugineus
    Crested Pitohui, Pitohui cristatus
    Variable Pitohui, Pitohui kirhocephalus
    Black Pitohui, Pitohui nigrescens
    Wattled Ploughbill, Eulacestoma nigropectus

External links

• Pachycephalidae videos on the Internet Bird Collection