The Raja Ampat pitohui (''Pitohui cerviniventris''), or Waigeo pitohui, is a species of

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 ...

in the family Oriolidae found on the western Papuan Islands of

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 ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is subtropical or tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s. It is also one of the few known poisonous birds.

Taxonomy and systematics

This species was split from the

northern variable pitohui The northern variable pitohui (''Pitohui kirhocephalus'') is a species of pitohui in the family Oriolidae. It is found on New Guinea and a number of neighbouring islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It i ...

in 2013.

Subspecies

Two

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are recognized: * ''P. c. pallidus'' - van Oort, 1907: Found on Sagewin and

Batanta Batanta is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in Southwest Papua province, Indonesia. Its area is 479.52 km2 (including smaller offshore islands) and its highest point is 1184 m. The Pitt Strait (Indonesia), Pitt Strai ...

Islands (western Papuan Islands) * ''P. c. cerviniventris'' - ( Gray, GR, 1862): Found on

Waigeo Waigeo is an island in the Southwest Papua province of eastern Indonesia. The island is also known as Amberi or Waigiu. It is the largest of the four main islands in the Raja Ampat Islands archipelago, between Halmahera and about to the nort ...

and Gemien Islands (western Papuan Islands)

References

Pitohui Pitohui (genus) Birds of the Raja Ampat Islands Endemic birds of Indonesia Birds described in 1862 Taxa named by George Robert Gray {{Pachycephalidae-stub