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The crested shriketit (''Falcunculus frontatus'') or Australian shriketit, is a bird
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to Australia where it inhabits open
eucalypt Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australasia: ''Eucalyptus'', '' Corymbia'', '' Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...
forest and woodland. It is the only
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
contained within both the
family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
Falcunculidae and 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 ...
''Falcunculus''.


Taxonomy and distribution

The crested shriketit was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 under the
binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''Lanius frontatus''.
Nuclear gene A nuclear gene is a gene whose physical DNA nucleotide sequence is located in the cell nucleus of a eukaryote. The term is used to distinguish nuclear genes from genes found in mitochondria or chloroplasts. The vast majority of genes in eukaryote ...
sequencing suggests that the crested shriketit requires its own family, Falcunculidae (Dickinson 2003).


Subspecies

Three
subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
are recognized, with disjunct ranges, and which are sometimes considered full
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
: * Northern shriketit (''F. f. whitei''), or White's shrike-tit - Campbell, AJ, 1910: Originally described as a separate species. Rare, with isolated records in the Kimberley region of north-western Australia and the
Top End The Top End of Australia's Northern Territory is a geographical region encompassing the northernmost section of the Northern Territory, which aside from the Cape York Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Australian continent. It covers a ra ...
of the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
* Western shriketit (''F. f. leucogaster''), or white-bellied shrike-tit -
Gould Gould may refer to: People * Gould (name), a surname Places United States * Gould, Arkansas, a city * Gould, Colorado, an unincorporated community * Gould, Ohio, an unincorporated community * Gould, Oklahoma, a town * Gould, West Virginia, a ...
, 1838
: sparsely distributed in south-western
Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
* Eastern shriketit (''F. f. frontatus'') - ( Latham, 1801): the stronghold of the species; is in south-eastern Australia from the Lower South-East of
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
, coastally and in the Murray-Darling Basin to south-eastern
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...
, with some scattered occurrences further north and west in Queensland


Description

Males are larger than females in wing length, weight, and bill-size. Males have black throats, while females have olive green throats, and both sexes have bold black and white markings on the face.


Behaviour

It feeds mainly on insects, spiders and, sometimes, particularly during the breeding season, young birds. Thistle seeds are also taken. It has a parrot-like bill, used for distinctive bark-stripping behaviour, which gains it access to invertebrates. The bird is unobtrusive, and the sound of the bark strips being torn off trees provides an indication of its presence. It nests high in a eucalyptus tree, in a fork of a branch, both sexes sharing the incubation and the rearing of the young. There may be two broods.


Status and conservation

The eastern shriketit is evaluated as being of
least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
on the
IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...
of Threatened Species, the northern shriketit is considered
endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
, and the western shriketit is listed as near threatened. Both the northern and western crested shriketits suffer from
habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
and fragmentation.


References


General sources

* * Dickinson, E. C. 2003. ''The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World''. 3rd Ed. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, * Schodde, R. and I. J. Mason. 1999. ''Directory of Australian Birds''. Volume 1: ''Passerines''. CSIRO Publishing, Canberra.


External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from1=Q3064746, from2=Q3249159, from3=Q1304974 Endemic birds of Australia Birds of New South Wales Birds of Queensland Birds of South Australia Birds of Victoria (Australia)
crested shriketit The crested shriketit (''Falcunculus frontatus'') or Australian shriketit, is a bird Endemism in birds, endemic to Australia where it inhabits open eucalypt forest and woodland. It is the only species contained within both the family (biology), f ...
Taxa named by John Latham (ornithologist)