The southern variable pitohui (''Pitohui uropygialis'') is a species of
pitohui in the family
Oriolidae. It is found on
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...
and neighbouring islands. Its natural
habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and 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 ...
is subtropical or tropical moist lowland
forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
s. It is also one of the few known poisonous birds, it carries the toxic compound
homobatrachotoxins in its feathers and skin.
Taxonomy and systematics
This species was split from the
northern variable pitohui in 2013.
Subspecies
Five
subspecies are recognized:
* ''P. u. uropygialis'' -
( Gray, GR, 1862): Found on
Salawati and
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, locate ...
Islands (
western Papuan Islands) and western
Vogelkop
The Bird's Head Peninsula ( Indonesian: ''Kepala Burung'', nl, Vogelkop) or Doberai Peninsula (''Semenanjung Doberai''), is a large peninsula that makes up the northwest portion of the island of New Guinea, comprising the Indonesian provinces ...
(north-western New Guinea)
* ''P. u. brunneiceps'' -
(D'Albertis Albertis may refer to:
* Albertis Castle, home of Captain Enrico Alberto d'Albertis in Genoa, Italy
* D'Albertis Junction, located at the confluence of Ok Tedi River with the Fly River downstream from Kiunga, Papua New Guinea
* Albertis S. Harrison ...
& Salvadori, 1879): Originally described as a separate species. Found from Gulf of Papua to Fly River (southern New Guinea)
* ''P. u. nigripectus'' -
van Oort, 1909: Found from Mimika River to
Pulau River
The Pulau River ( id, Sungai Pulau, nl, Eilandenrivier) is a major river in South Papua province of Indonesia, with a total length of .
Name
It was previously known as the Eilanden River based on Dutch colonial expedition maps, and was still s ...
(southern New Guinea)
* ''P. u. aruensis'' -
( Sharpe, 1877): Originally described as a separate species. Found on
Aru Islands
The Aru Islands Regency ( id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru) is a group of about 95 low-lying islands in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. It also forms a regency of Maluku Province, with a land area of . At the 2011 Census the Regency had a p ...
(off south-western New Guinea)
* ''P. u. meridionalis'' -
(Sharpe, 1888): Originally described as a separate species. Found in south-eastern New Guinea
References
Pitohui
Pitohui (genus)
Birds described in 1862
Taxa named by George Robert Gray
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