The oriole whistler (''Pachycephala orioloides''), also known as the yellow-throated whistler (leading to easy confusion with '' Pachycephala macrorhyncha''), is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family

Pachycephalidae The Pachycephalidae are a family of bird species that includes the whistlers, shrikethrushes, and three of the pitohuis, and is part of the ancient Australo-Papuan radiation of songbirds. The family includes 64 species that are separated into f ...

, which is

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 the

Solomon Islands (archipelago) The Solomon Islands (archipelago) is an island group in the western South Pacific Ocean, north-east of Australia. The archipelago is in the Melanesian subregion and bioregion of Oceania and forms the eastern boundary of the Solomon Sea. The ...

Taxonomy and systematics

It is variably considered a

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 ...

of a widespread

golden whistler The Australian golden whistler (''Pachycephala pectoralis'') or golden whistler, is a species of bird found in forest, woodland, mallee, mangrove and scrub in Australia (except the interior and most of the north)Ken Simpson, K., & N. Day. (1994) ...

(''P. pectoralis'') or treated as a separate species, but strong published evidence in favour of either treatment is limited, and further study is warranted to resolve the complex

taxonomic Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

situation.Boles, W. E. (2007). Golden Whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis). pp. 421-423 in: del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Christie, D. eds (2007). ''

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. T ...

''. Volume 12: ''Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees.'' Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Even if not recognized as a separate species, the oriole whistler includes several very different subspecies, though the males are united by their yellow throat.

Subspecies

Nine subspecies are recognized: * ''P. o. bougainvillei'' -

Mayr Mayr is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andrea Mayr (born 1979), Austrian female long-distance runner * Ernst Mayr (1904–2005), German American evolutionary biologist * Georg Mayr (1564–1623), Bavarian Jesuit pri ...

, 1932: Found on Buka, Bougainville and

Shortland Islands The Shortland Islands is an archipelago of Western Province, Solomon Islands, at . The island group lies in the extreme north-west of the country's territory, close to the south-east edge of Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. The largest isla ...

* ''P. o. orioloides'' - Pucheran, 1853: Found on Choiseul, Malakobi, Santa Isabel and

Florida Islands The Nggela Islands, also known as the Florida Islands, are a small island group in the Central Province of Solomon Islands, a sovereign state (since 1978) in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The chain is composed of four larger islands and about ...

* ''P. o. centralis'' - Mayr, 1932: Found on eastern

New Georgia Islands The New Georgia Islands are part of the Western Province of Solomon Islands. They are located to the northwest of Guadalcanal. The larger islands are mountainous and covered in rain forest. The main islands are New Georgia, Vella Lavella, Kolom ...

* ''P. o. melanoptera'' - Mayr, 1932: Found on southern New Georgia Islands * ''P. o. melanonota'' -

Hartert Ernst Johann Otto Hartert (29 October 1859 – 11 November 1933) was a widely published German ornithologist. Life and career Hartert was born in Hamburg, Germany on 29 October 1859. In July 1891, he married the illustrator Claudia Bernadine E ...

, 1908: Originally described as a separate species. Found on

Ranongga Ranongga is an island located in the New Georgia Islands group of Western Province, Solomon Islands. History Ranongga was sighted in 1787 by sailors Read and Dale. On August 18, 1959, a seismic sea wave was generated off the west coast of Ranongg ...

and

Vella Lavella Vella Lavella is an island in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. It lies to the west of New Georgia, but is considered one of the New Georgia Group. To its west are the Treasury Islands. Environment The island of Vella Lavella is loc ...

* ''P. o. pavuvu'' - Mayr, 1932: Found on

Pavuvu Pavuvu is the largest of the Russell Islands in Central Province, Solomon Islands. It is located northwest of Guadalcanal. The area is . The largest village is Nukufero on the north coast. The island had served as a coconut plantation for nativ ...

* ''P. o. sanfordi'' - Mayr, 1931: Originally described as a separate species. Found on

Malaita Malaita is the primary island of Malaita Province in Solomon Islands. Malaita is the most populous island of the Solomon Islands, with a population of 161,832 as of 2021, or more than a third of the entire national population. It is also the se ...

* ''P. o. cinnamomea'' - ( Ramsay, EP, 1879): Originally described as a separate species in 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 (''Pseudorectes ferrugineu ...

''. Found on Beagle Island and

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

* ''P. o. christophori'' - Tristram, 1879: Originally described as a separate species. Found on Santa Ana and San Cristóbal Island

Distribution

The oriole whistler is found throughout the Solomons, except in the

Santa Cruz Islands The Santa Cruz Islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of Temotu Province of the nation of Solomon Islands discovered by the Spaniards. They lie approximately 250 miles (400 km) to the southeast of the Solomon Islands ...

References

oriole whistler The oriole whistler (''Pachycephala orioloides''), also known as the yellow-throated whistler (leading to easy confusion with '' Pachycephala macrorhyncha''), is a species of bird in the family Pachycephalidae, which is endemic to the Solomon Isl ...

Birds of the Solomon Islands

{{Pachycephalidae-stub