''Ailuroedus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s in the bowerbird family,

Ptilonorhynchidae Bowerbirds () make up the bird family (biology), family Ptilonorhynchidae. They are renowned for their unique courtship behaviour, where males build a structure and decorate it with sticks and brightly coloured objects in an attempt to attract a ...

, native to forests in Australia and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

. The common name,

catbird Several unrelated groups of songbirds are called catbirds because of their wailing calls, which resemble a cat's meowing. The genus name ''Ailuroedus'' likewise is from the Greek for 'cat-singer' or 'cat-voiced'. Australasian catbirds are ...

, refers to these species' "wailing cat-like calls". The scientific name ''Ailuroedus'' is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

'ailouros', meaning cat, and 'eidos', referring to form (or perhaps from oaidos, singer).

Taxonomy

The genus ''Ailuroedus'' was introduced in 1851 by the German ornithologist

Jean Cabanis Jean Louis Cabanis (8 March 1816 – 20 February 1906) was a German ornithologist. He worked at the bird collections of the Natural History Museum in Berlin becoming its first curator of birds in 1850. He founded the ''Journal für Ornithologie ...

to accommodate a single species, ''Ptilonorhynchus smithii'' Vigors and Horsfield. This is a

junior synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

of ''Lanius crassirostris'' Paykull, 1815, the

green catbird The green catbird (''Ailuroedus crassirostris'') is a species of bowerbird found in subtropical forests along the east coast of Australia, from southeastern Queensland to southern New South Wales. It is named after its distinctive call which soun ...

. The genus name combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

αιλουρος/''ailouros'' meaning "cat" with αοιδος/''aoidos'' or ωδος/''ōdos'' meaning "singer". Traditionally, the ''Ailuroedus'' catbirds were classified as three species. However, a 2015

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

and morphological article by Martin Irestedt and collaborators revealed seven new species, leading to a total of ten distinct species. In the same study, the results confirmed that the catbirds are divided into two major

clades In biology, a clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach to taxonomy ...

, a lowland group consisting of the New Guinean

white-eared catbird The white-eared catbird (''Ailuroedus buccoides'') is a species of bird in the family Ptilonorhynchidae found on New Guinea and the West Papuan Islands. Its natural habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic fa ...

, and a mid-mountain clade including the

black-eared catbird The black-eared catbird (''Ailuroedus melanotis'') is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found northern Queensland, Australia, and New Guinea, including its surrounding islands. They are named after their cat-like wails and ...

and the Australian

Species

The genus contains ten species: *

Ochre-breasted catbird The ochre-breasted catbird (''Ailuroedus stonii'') is a species of bird in the family Ptilonorhynchidae. It is found in southern New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland fo ...

(''Ailuroedus stonii'') *

White-eared catbird The white-eared catbird (''Ailuroedus buccoides'') is a species of bird in the family Ptilonorhynchidae found on New Guinea and the West Papuan Islands. Its natural habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic fa ...

(''Ailuroedus buccoides'') *

Tan-capped catbird The tan-capped catbird (''Ailuroedus geislerorum'') is a species of bird in the family Ptilonorhynchidae Bowerbirds () make up the bird family (biology), family Ptilonorhynchidae. They are renowned for their unique courtship behaviour, where ...

(''Ailuroedus geislerorum'') *

Green catbird The green catbird (''Ailuroedus crassirostris'') is a species of bowerbird found in subtropical forests along the east coast of Australia, from southeastern Queensland to southern New South Wales. It is named after its distinctive call which soun ...

(''Ailuroedus crassirostris'') *

Spotted catbird The spotted catbird (''Ailuroedus maculosus'') is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found in north Queensland, the eastern Moluccas and New Guinea.Higgins, P.J., Peter, J.M. and Cowling, S.J. 2006. Handbook of Australian, Ne ...

(''Ailuroedus maculosus'') *

Huon catbird The Huon catbird (''Ailuroedus astigmaticus'') is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found in northeastern New Guinea. This species was formerly considered a subspecies of the spotted catbird before being reclassified as a di ...

(''Ailuroedus astigmaticus'') *

Black-capped catbird The black-capped catbird (''Ailuroedus melanocephalus'') is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae), native to southeastern New Guinea. This species was formerly considered a subspecies of the spotted catbird before being reclassified as a dis ...

(''Ailuroedus melanocephalus'') *

Northern catbird The Northern catbird (''Ailuroedus jobiensis'') is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found in central-northern New Guinea. This species was formerly considered a subspecies of the spotted catbird The spotted catbird (''A ...

(''Ailuroedus jobiensis'') *

Arfak catbird The Arfak catbird (''Ailuroedus arfakianus'') is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found in the Bird's Head (Vogelkop) Peninsula in western New Guinea. This species was formerly considered a subspecies of the spotted catbi ...

(''Ailuroedus arfakianus'') *

Black-eared catbird The black-eared catbird (''Ailuroedus melanotis'') is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found northern Queensland, Australia, and New Guinea, including its surrounding islands. They are named after their cat-like wails and ...

(''Ailuroedus melanotis'')

Description

Catbirds are characterize by ivory-colored bill with the hooked maxilla, large head, green dorsal plumage, ventral spotting, powerful grasping claws and fig-eating habit. In contrast to the other genera within the ''Ptilonorhynchidae'' family, all of the ''Ailuroedus'' catbirds lack marked

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

, are pair bonded,

monogamous Monogamy ( ) is a relationship of two individuals in which they form a mutual and exclusive intimate partnership. Having only one partner at any one time, whether for life or serial monogamy, contrasts with various forms of non-monogamy (e.g. ...

breeders, with both parents caring for the offspring. They form pair bonds in which the male helps to build the nest, and have simple arboreal chasing displays, without bowers or stages.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q553009 Bird genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot