The olive whistler (''Pachycephala olivacea'') or olivaceous whistler, 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 ...

, the whistlers, that is native to southeastern Australia.

Taxonomy and systematics

Subspecies

Five

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: * ''P. o. macphersoniana'' – White, HL, 1920: Found in eastern Australia * ''P. o. olivacea'' – Vigors & Horsfield, 1827: Found in southeastern Australia * ''P. o. bathychroa'' –

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 ...

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 ...

, 1999: Found in southeastern Australia * ''P. o. apatetes'' – Schodde & Mason, 1999: Found in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and islands in the

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...

, Australia * ''P. o. hesperus'' – Schodde & Mason, 1999: Found in southern Australia

Description

Adult birds are around long, and have an overall olive brown plumage with a streaked white throat. To an untrained eye, they can be mistaken for female

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) ...

s.Olive Whistler - Birds in Backyards
The male has a dark grey head, pale grey breast and red-tinged buff belly and rump. The female lacks the red tinge, and has brown underparts. The legs, bill and eyes of both sexes are a brown-black. The melodious call has been likened to ''I'll wet you'' or ''you're cranky'', and is possibly the most musical of all whistlers.

Distribution and habitat

The olive whistler is found from the

McPherson Range The McPherson Range is an extensive mountain range, a spur of the Great Dividing Range, heading in an easterly direction from near Wallangarra to the Pacific Ocean coastline. It forms part of the Scenic Rim on the border between the states of Ne ...

in far south east Queensland south through New South Wales and into Victoria and south eastern South Australia, Flinders and King Islands and Tasmania. The habitat is mainly wet forest, and Antarctic beech (''Nothofagus moorei'') forest in northern New South Wales.

Behaviour and ecology

Breeding

Olive whistlers nest from September to December, raising one brood during this period. The nest is a fragile bowl of twigs, grasses and bits of bark lined with softer plant material and bound with spiderwebs in the fork of a tree around above the ground. A clutch of two or three oval eggs are laid, 20 x 28 mm and shiny cream with brown, black and lavender spots and blotches (more on larger end).

Food and feeding

It is predominantly insectivorous.

Status

An uncommon species, it is considered 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 global

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 ...

, but vulnerable in New South Wales due to

habitat fragmentation Habitat fragmentation describes the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred environment (habitat), causing population fragmentation and ecosystem decay. Causes of habitat fragmentation include geological processes ...

and feral cats and foxes.

References

External links

BirdLife Species FactsheetOlive whistler at the Department of Environment and Conservation, NSW

olive whistler The olive whistler (''Pachycephala olivacea'') or olivaceous whistler, is a species of bird in the family Pachycephalidae, the whistlers, that is native to southeastern Australia. Taxonomy and systematics Subspecies Five subspecies are recog ...

Birds of New South Wales Birds of Tasmania Birds of Victoria (Australia) Endemic birds of Australia

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