The chowchilla (''Orthonyx spaldingii'') is a
passerine bird in the family
Orthonychidae
The logrunners (''Orthonyx'') are a clade of birds which comprises three species of passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea. Some authorities consider the Australian family Cinclosomatidae to be part of the Orthonychidae. The three ...
. It is
endemic to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
Taxonomy
In their 1999 study,
Schodde
Richard Schodde, OAM (born 23 September 1936) is an Australian botanist and ornithologist.
Schodde studied at the University of Adelaide, where he received a BSc (Hons) in 1960 and a PhD in 1970. During the 1960s he was a botanist with the ...
and
Mason
Mason may refer to:
Occupations
* Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces
* Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cut ...
recognise two adjoining subspecies, ''O. s. spaldingii'' and ''O. s. melasmenus'' with a zone of intergradation.
Description
Unmistakable thrush-like, ground-dwelling, birds. Males and females largely dark brown with white eye-ring, tail-feather shafts extend as spines beyond feather-vanes; males with white throat, breast and belly; females with bright rufous throat and upper breast, white lower breast and belly.
Distribution and habitat
The chowchilla is restricted to upland and lowland
tropical rainforest
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...
s of north-eastern
Queensland.
Behaviour
Diet
Mainly invertebrates, but also small vertebrates.
Voice
Continuous chattering, singing and other complex vocalisations.
Breeding
Nests on or near ground, often on ferns, stumps or logs. Builds a bulky, dome-shaped stick-nest with a clutch of one, possibly sometimes two, white eggs.
Gallery
File:Chowchilla.jpg, left, Near Mount Lewis – Australia
File:Chowchilla Orthonyx spaldingii (male).JPG, ''Orthonyx spaldingii'' (male)
References
* BirdLife International. (2007). Species factsheet: Orthonyx spaldingii. Downloaded fro
on 9 August 2007
* Higgins, P.J.; & Peter, J.M. (eds). (2003). ''Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 6: Pardalotes to Shrike-thrushes''. Oxford University Press: Melbourne.
External links
Image at ADW
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1315452
Orthonyx
Birds of Cape York Peninsula
Endemic birds of Australia
Birds described in 1868