The Bornean bristlehead (''Pityriasis gymnocephala''), also variously known as the bristled shrike, bald-headed crow or the bald-headed wood-shrike, is the only member of the

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

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 ...

Pityriasidae and genus ''Pityriasis''. It is an enigmatic and uncommon species of the rainforest canopy of the island of

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

, to which it is endemic.

Taxonomy

The relationships of this species have been controversial. At times it has been placed in the

Prionopidae Helmetshrikes are a family uniting some smallish to mid-sized songbird species. They were included with the true shrikes in the family Laniidae, later on split between several presumably closely related groups such as bushshrikes ( Malaconotidae ...

, the

Cracticidae The Cracticinae, bellmagpies and allies, gathers together 12 species of mostly crow-like birds native to Australasia and nearby areas. Historically, the cracticines – currawongs, Australian magpie and butcherbirds – were seen as a separate ...

, the

Artamidae Artamidae is a family of passerine birds found in Australia, the Indo-Pacific region, and Southern Asia. It includes 24 extant species in six genera and three subfamilies: Peltopsinae (with one genus, ''Peltops''), Artaminae (with one genus conta ...

or the Corvidae.Smythies, B.E.; & Davison, G.W.H. (1999). ''The Birds of Borneo''. Natural History Publications (Borneo): Kota Kinabalu. pp.606–608. A more recent suggestion has been to include it in the Tephrodornithidae, a new family that includes '' Hemipus'' and ''

Tephrodornis ''Tephrodornis'' is a bird genus usually placed in the Vangidae. There are four species: * Large woodshrike, ''Tephrodornis gularis'' The bristlehead is a medium-sized ( in length) black or dark grey bird, with red thighs and a red head, throat and neck, with grey ear-coverts and a featherless yellow crown. There is a white wing-patch, visible in flight, and females also have red spots on the flanks. It has a massive heavy black hooked bill and a short tail, giving it a chunky appearance. The crown is covered by short (3–4 mm) yellow or straw-coloured skin projections like bare

feather Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and a premier ...

shafts, hence the name 'bristlehead'. Juveniles have black thighs, red ear-coverts, a red eye-ring, just a few red feathers on the head and undeveloped 'bristles'.Colenutt, Simon. (2002). Little known Oriental bird: Bornean Bristlehead. ''Oriental Bird Club Bulletin 35''. It is a noisy species making a variety of unmusical calls, including distinctive high-pitched nasal whining notes interspersed with harsher notes, chattering noises, whistles, honks and chortles.MacKinnon, John; & Phillipps, Karen. (1993). ''A Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali''. OUP: Oxford.

Distribution and habitat

The bristlehead 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 island of

, throughout the lowlands of which it has been recorded up to 1200 m

asl American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is express ...

, though its distribution is sparse, patchy and unpredictable. It may be found in both primary and secondary lowland forests, including peat swamp forests, mixed

dipterocarp Dipterocarpaceae is a family of 16 genera and about 695 known species of mainly tropical lowland rainforest trees. The family name, from the type genus ''Dipterocarpus'', is derived from Greek (''di'' = two, ''pteron'' = wing and ''karpos'' = fru ...

forests and mangroves.

Behaviour

The bristlehead is a sociable species which often moves steadily in small garrulous flocks of 6–10 birds in the mid and upper canopy of the forest, sometimes accompanied by other large forest birds such as

malkoha Malkohas are large birds in the cuckoo family Cuculidae Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, co ...

babbler Babbler may refer to: * Old World babbler, a large family of mostly Old World passerine birds * Australo-Papuan babbler, passerine birds endemic to Australia-New Guinea * Babbler (software) Babbler is a French software company founded in Septem ...

s, drongos, trogons,

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. ...

s and

hornbill Hornbills (Bucerotidae) are a family (biology), family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly coloured and sometimes has a Casque (an ...

s in mixed-species feeding flocks. Its movements in the canopy are slow and heavy and it flies with a fast, shallow wing-beat.

Feeding

Bornean bristleheads are primary consumers. They feed on small plants, fruits and vegetable.

Breeding

Breeding behaviour is largely unknown, though an oviduct egg was described as being white with grey and brown spots and with dimensions of 31 x 25 mm. A sighting of two apparent females feeding a fledgling has been interpreted as suggesting communal breeding. Birds have also been seen in flight carrying nesting material.

Conservation

The main threat to the bristlehead comes from

habitat destruction 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 ...

through

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

of lowland primary forest and burning of peat swamp forest, and the species has almost certainly undergone a population decline. However, it also occurs in less affected forests on slopes so is classified as vulnerable.BirdLife International. (2007). Species factsheet: ''Pityriasis gymnocephala''. Downloaded from on 27/4/2008.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet
{{Taxonbar, from=Q767088 Pityriaseidae Endemic birds of Borneo Birds described in 1835