A shrikethrush, also spelt shrike-thrush, is any one of eleven species of
songbird
A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 500 ...
that is a member of the
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''Colluricincla''. They have nondescript, predominantly brown or grey, plumage, but are accomplished singers, their calls described as "strong, mellow and beautiful." Shrikethrushes are generally insectivorous, though have been recorded eating molluscs and berries. They build cup-shaped nests in the forks of trees.
Taxonomy and systematics
Nicholas Aylward Vigors
Nicholas Aylward Vigors (1785 – 26 October 1840) was an Ireland, Irish zoologist and politician. He popularized the classification of birds on the basis of the quinarian system.
Early life
Vigors was born at Old Leighlin, County Carlow on 17 ...
and
Thomas Horsfield
Thomas Horsfield (May 12, 1773 – July 24, 1859) was an American physician and natural history, naturalist who worked extensively in Indonesia, describing numerous species of plants and animals from the region. He was later a curator of the Eas ...
described the genus in 1827, coining the genus name from the
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
words ''collurio'' "shrike" and ''cinclos'' "thrush". Noting the beak, they thought it related to shrikes or
vanga
The family Vangidae (from ''vanga'', Malagasy for the hook-billed vanga, ''Vanga curvirostris'') comprises a group of often shrike-like medium-sized birds distributed from Asia to Africa, including the vangas of Madagascar to which the family ...
s, though its form was reminiscent of
thrushes
The thrushes are a passerine bird family, Turdidae, with a worldwide distribution. The family was once much larger before biologists reclassified the former subfamily Saxicolinae, which includes the chats and European robins, as Old World flycat ...
. Shrikethrushes were commonly known as colluricinclas in the 19th century, but their current name was in use by the late 19th century.
Molecular studies by Norman and colleagues in 2009 and Jønsson and colleagues in 2010 show the shrikethrushes to lie within the whistler family Pachycephalidae. Formerly, some authorities classified the shrikethrushes in their own family Colluricinclidae.
Molecular dating suggests the shrikethrushes diverged from the common ancestor of the genus ''
Pseudorectes
''Pseudorectes'' is a bird genus in the family Pachycephalidae endemic to New Guinea.
Pseudorectes Extant species
It contains the following species:
* White-bellied pitohui (''Pseudorectes incertus'')
* Rusty pitohui
The rusty pitohui (''Pse ...
'' (their closest relatives) in the mid-
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58 The
Sangihe whistler
The Sangihe whistler or Sangihe shrikethrush (''Coracornis sanghirensis'') is a species of bird in the family Pachycephalidae. It is endemic to Sangihe Island in Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It ...
was found to be more closely related to the maroon-backed whistler and hence shifted to the genus ''
Coracornis
''Coracornis'' is a genus of birds in the family Pachycephalidae. The two species are found in Indonesia.
Taxonomy and systematics
Formerly, the genus ''Coracornis'' was considered to be monotypic, containing only the maroon-backed whistler. T ...
''. Genetic investigations of New Guinea populations of the
little shrikethrush Little shrikethrush has been split into the following species:
* Arafura shrikethrush, ''Colluricincla megarhyncha''
* Variable shrikethrush, ''Colluricincla fortis''
* Waigeo shrikethrush, ''Colluricincla affinis''
* Mamberamo shrikethrush ...
indicate high levels of genetic divergence, suggesting it may comprise more than one species.
Extant species
The genus ''Colluricincla'' contains the following eleven species:
Former species
Formerly, some authorities also considered the following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus ''Colluricincla'':
*
Sangihe whistler
The Sangihe whistler or Sangihe shrikethrush (''Coracornis sanghirensis'') is a species of bird in the family Pachycephalidae. It is endemic to Sangihe Island in Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It ...
(as ''Colluricincla sanghirensis'')
* Island whistler (as ''Myiolestes phaionotus'')
*
Yellow-throated whistler
The yellow-throated whistler (''Pachycephala macrorhyncha'') or Banda Sea whistler, is a species of bird in the family Pachycephalidae. It is endemic to central and south-eastern Wallacea, where it ranges from Timor east to the Tanimbars and nor ...
(as ''Myiolestes macrorhynchus'')
* Biak whistler (as ''Colluricincla melanorhyncha'')
*
Morningbird
The morningbird (''Pachycephala tenebrosa'') is a songbird species in the family (biology), family Pachycephalidae.
Taxonomy and systematics
The morningbird was previously placed in the genus ''Colluricincla'' until 2013, when it was transferred ...
Fiji shrikebill
The Fiji shrikebill (''Clytorhynchus vitiensis'') is a songbird species in the family Monarchidae. It is found in American Samoa, Fiji, and Tonga. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
Taxonomy and systematics
T ...