The shriketits are a group of three species of birds in the genus ''Falcunculus''

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 they inhabit 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.

Taxonomy and distribution

Species

Three

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 ...

are recognized, with disjunct ranges: * Northern shriketit (''F. whitei''), or White's shrike-tit - Campbell, AJ, 1910: Originally described as a separate species. It is found 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. 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. frontatus'') - ( Latham, 1801): 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

They feed mainly on insects, spiders and, sometimes, particularly during the breeding season, young birds. Thistle seeds are also taken. They have a parrot-like bill, used for distinctive bark-stripping behaviour, which gains them access to invertebrates. The bird is unobtrusive, and the sound of the bark strips being torn off trees provides an indication of their presence. They nest 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.

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. {{Taxonbar, from=Q3249159, from2=Q10621783 Endemic birds of Australia Birds of New South Wales Birds of Queensland Birds of South Australia Birds of Victoria (Australia) Taxa named by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot