The blue-capped ifrit (''Ifrita kowaldi''), also known as the blue-capped ifrita, is a small and

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores we ...

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 generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

species currently placed in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

family, Ifritidae. Previously, the ifrit has been placed in a plethora of families including

Cinclosomatidae Cinclosomatidae is a family (biology), family of passerine 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 j ...

Monarchidae The monarchs or monarch flycatchers (family Monarchidae) comprise a family of over 100 passerine birds which includes shrikebills, paradise flycatchers, and Grallina, magpie-larks. Monarchids are small insectivore, insectivorous songbirds with l ...

. Blue-capped ifrits are considered an ancient relict species endemic to

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 ...

. This corvoid species originally dates back to the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

epoch, on a series of proto-Papuan islands, with minimal known evolutionary divergences.

Description

The blue-capped ifrit is long and weighs . Species plumage is yellowish brown with a blue-black crown atop their broad head. It is a sexually dimorphic species, with ear streak coloration being white in males and more tawny yellow in females. Ifrits tend to have more stout body shapes with broad sternums and shallow keels. Their wings are short and rounded while their legs are booted, having feathers down to their stout and clawed feet. Additionally, blue-capped ifrits have

batrachotoxin Batrachotoxin (BTX) is an extremely potent cardiotoxic and neurotoxic steroidal alkaloid found in certain species of beetles, birds, and frogs. The name is from the Greek word . Structurally-related chemical compounds are often referred to collec ...

within their feathers and skin.

Distribution and habitat

Blue-capped ifrits are endemic to Western New Guinea and Papua New Guinea, being found nowhere else on earth and having a distribution of 388,000 km². Ifrits inhabit montane rainforest of New Guinea, living in altitude ranges of above sea level. Typically, they are found at altitudes of or above.

Behaviour and ecology

As birds with weak flight abilities, blue-capped ifrits build nests about above the ground in the branches of denser rainforest vegetation. These nests are made of plant fibers with some feathers. The parents tend to camouflage the outside of the nest with moss and liverworts. Ifrits lay small clutches with a typical nest containing only a single offspring. The nest camouflage, toxin excretion, and small clutch sizes may have derived from historically high rates of depredation and nest parasitism.

Toxin

Blue-capped ifrits are among a small group of avian species that are poisonous, the others being the little shrikethrush (''

Colluricincla A shrikethrush, also spelled shrike-thrush, is any one of eleven species of songbird that is a member of the genus ''Colluricincla''. They have nondescript, predominantly brown or grey, plumage, but are accomplished singers, their calls described ...

''), and several members of the former genus ''

Pitohui The pitohuis are bird species endemic to New Guinea. The onomatopoeic name is thought to be derived from that used by New Guineans from nearby Dorey (Manokwari), but it is also used as the name of a genus '' Pitohui'' which was established by th ...

,'' also from New Guinea. Ifrits excrete batrachotoxin into their feathers and skin in order to defend themselves against predators. Generally, batrachotoxin binds and permanently opens the sodium channels in nerve cells and can cause paralysis. The accumulation of toxins varies in individuals based on the region they are found in and this could be due to the availability of beetles in the genus ''

Choresine ''Choresine'' is a genus of beetles that belong to the family Melyridae. This genus of beetle is known to have high levels of batrachotoxins and is believed to be a possible toxin source for Pitohui and Blue-capped ifrit birds in New Guinea. C ...

'', which are speculated to be the dietary source of the toxin itself.

Conservation status

Ifrits are of least concern because they have a large range. Ifrits seem to have a stable population and are thought to have quite a large population size. Part of their range lies within conservation sites.

References

Bibliography

* del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Christie D. (editors). (2007). ''

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...

''. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions.

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet

''The Intoxicating Birds of New Guinea'' by John Tidwell
{{Taxonbar, from=Q197959 Passeri Birds of the New Guinea Highlands blue-capped ifrit blue-capped ifrit Endemic fauna of New Guinea Toxic birds