Cinclosomatidae is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...

birds native to Australia and New Guinea. It has a complicated taxonomic history and different authors vary in which birds they include in the family. It includes the quail-thrushes and jewel-babblers.

Taxonomy

The quail-thrushes, jewel-babblers, whipbirds and wedgebills were traditionally included with the logrunners (''Orthonyx'') in the family Orthonychidae.Roberson, Don (2004
Quail-thrushes Cinclosomatidae
Bird Families of the World. Accessed 4 January 2010. Sometimes the Malaysian rail-babbler and

blue-capped ifrit The blue-capped ifrit (''Ifrita kowaldi''), also known as the blue-capped ifrita, is a small and insectivorous passerine species currently placed in the monotypic family, Ifritidae. Previously, the ifrit has been placed in a plethora of families ...

(''Ifrita kowaldi'') were also included in the family. In 1985, Sibley and Ahlquist found that the logrunners were not related to the others and included only the logrunners in the Orthonychidae.Christidis, Les & Walter Boles (2008) ''Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds'', CSIRO Publishing. They treated the others as the subfamily Cinclosomatinae within their expanded family

Corvidae Corvidae is a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies, choughs, and nutcrackers. In colloquial English, they are known as the crow family or corvids. Cu ...

. A number of authors later treated the quail-thrushes and allies as the family Cinclosomatidae, a name first coined by Gregory Mathews in 1921–1922. However, if the whipbirds are included in the family, the older name Psophodidae Bonaparte, 1854 has priority. If the Malaysian rail-babbler is also included, the name Eupetidae Bonaparte, 1850 has priority. The Malaysian rail-babbler has now been shown to be unrelated to the others, probably being an early offshoot of the

Passerida Passerida is, under the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, one of two parvorders contained within the suborder Passeri (standard taxonomic practice would place them at the rank of infraorder). While more recent research suggests that its sister parvorde ...

. Another study found the quail-thrushes and jewel-babblers to be related to each other but did not show them to have a close relationship with ''Psophodes'' or ''Ifrita''.

Description

The quail-thrushes and jewel babblers are medium-sized songbirds, 17–28 cm in length.Coates, Brian J. & William S. Peckover (2001), ''Birds of New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago: a photographic guide'', Dove Publications, Alderley, Australia.Pizzey, Graham & Frank Knight (1997) ''Field Guide to the Birds of Australia'', HarperCollins, London, UK. They have strong legs and bills. Males and females often differ in plumage markings. The quail-thrushes are largely brown above, the colour varying to provide

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

against the soil, but are more boldly marked with black and white below. Jewel-babblers usually have extensive blue in their plumage. Most species have loud, distinctive

songs A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

.Perrins, Christopher, ''ed.'' (2004) ''The New Encyclopedia of Birds'', Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Distribution and habitat

Jewel-babblers are found on New Guinea and the neighbouring islands of

Yapen Yapen (also Japan, Jobi) is an island of Papua, Indonesia. The Yapen Strait separates Yapen and the Biak Islands to the north. It is in Cenderawasih Bay off the north-western coast of the island of New Guinea. To the west is Mios Num Island ...

Batanta Batanta is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in Southwest Papua province, Indonesia. Its area is 453 km² and its highest point is 1184 m. The Pitt Strait separates it from Salawati, while the Dampier Strait separat ...

Misool Misool, formerly spelled Mysol (Dutch: Misoöl) or Misol, is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in Southwest Papua, Indonesia. Its area is 2,034 km2. The highest point is 561 m and the main towns are Waigama, located ...

and

Salawati Salawati is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in Southwest Papua (formerly West Papua), Indonesia. Its area is 1,623 km2. Salawati is separated from New Guinea to the southeast by the Sele Strait (a.k.a. Galowa Str ...

. They occur in forest, generally replacing each other at different altitudes. The painted quail-thrush is also found in the forests of New Guinea. The other quail-thrushes are restricted to Australia where they are found in drier habitats, occurring in open forest, scrub and on stony ground. None of the species are thought to be

threatened Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensa ...

but one subspecies of the spotted quail-thrush is certainly critically endangered and possibly extinct.

Behaviour

Jewel-babblers and Quail-thrushes are terrestrial birds which fly fairly weakly and prefer to squat or run when disturbed. They forage on the ground feeding mainly on insects and other invertebrates. In the desert, quail-thrushes also eat some seeds. They build a cup-shaped

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materi ...

among shrubs or on the ground. Two or three

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

s are laid.

Species list

* Genus '' Cinclosoma'' – quail-thrushes ** Painted quail-thrush, ''Cinclosoma ajax'' ** Spotted quail-thrush, ''Cinclosoma punctatum'' ** Chestnut quail-thrush, ''Cinclosoma castanotum'' ** Copperback quail-thrush, ''Cinclosoma clarum'' ** Chestnut-breasted quail-thrush, ''Cinclosoma castaneothorax'' ** Western quail-thrush, ''Cinclosoma marginatum'' **

Nullarbor quail-thrush The Nullarbor quail-thrush (''Cinclosoma alisteri'') is a species of bird in the family Cinclosomatidae. It is the only Australian bird endemic to the Nullarbor Plain in southern Australia. Taxonomy The species was first described by Gregory ...

, ''Cinclosoma alisteri'' **

Cinnamon quail-thrush The cinnamon quail-thrush (''Cinclosoma cinnamomeum'') is cryptic arid-zone species that is endemic to Australia. This small to medium-sized species of bird is found in the arid and semi-arid regions of central Australia. Taxonomy This speci ...

, ''Cinclosoma cinnamomeum'' * Genus ''

Ptilorrhoa The jewel-babblers are the bird genus ''Ptilorrhoa'' in the family Cinclosomatidae. The genus contains four species that are endemic to New Guinea. The genus was once considered to contain the rail-babbler, but that species is now considered to ...

'' – jewel-babblers ** Spotted jewel-babbler, ''Ptilorrhoa leucosticta'' ** Blue jewel-babbler, ''Ptilorrhoa caerulescens'' *** Brown-headed jewel-babbler, ''Ptilorrhoa (caerulescens) geisleroroum'' ** Chestnut-backed jewel-babbler, ''Ptilorrhoa castanonota''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1089786 Bird families ^