Psophodidae is a

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 ...

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 ...

birds native to Australia and nearby areas. It has a complicated taxonomic history and different authors vary in which birds they include in the family. In the strictest sense, it includes only the 5 or 6 species of whipbirds and wedgebills (''

Psophodes ''Psophodes'' is a genus of five species of songbirds endemic to Australia, known as whipbirds and wedgebills. Description Whipbirds and wedgebills are collectively recognised in the genus ''Psophodes''.Toon, A., Joseph, L., & Burbidge, A., (2 ...

'' and '' Androphobus''), but some authors also include the

quail-thrush A quail-thrush is a bird of the genus ''Cinclosoma'', which contains eight species. Quail-thrushes are in a different family from either quails or thrushes, but bear some superficial resemblance to them. The genus is found in Australia and New Gu ...

es (''Cinclosoma''), 8

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 ...

of ground-dwelling birds found in Australia and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

, and the

jewel-babbler The jewel-babblers are the bird genus ''Ptilorrhoa'' in the family Cinclosomatidae. The genus contains four species that are endemic to New Guinea. The genus was once considered to contain the rail-babbler, but that species is now considered to ...

s (''Ptilorrhoa''), 3 or 4 species found in rainforest in New Guinea. Others place them in their own family, the

Cinclosomatidae Cinclosomatidae is a family of passerine birds native to Australia and New Guinea. It has a complicated taxonomic history and different authors vary in which birds they include in the family. It includes the quail-thrushes and jewel-babblers. Ta ...

. The

Malaysian rail-babbler The rail-babbler or Malaysian rail-babbler (''Eupetes macrocerus'') is a strange, rail-like, brown and pied ground-living bird. It is the only species in the genus ''Eupetes'' and family Eupetidae. It lives on the floor of primary forests in the ...

(''Eupetes macrocerus'') was formerly sometimes placed in this family, which would then be called Eupetidae.

Taxonomy

The quail-thrushes, jewel-babblers, whipbirds and wedgebills were traditionally included with the logrunners (''Orthonyx'') in the family Orthonychidae.Roberson, Don (2004
Quail-thrushes Cinclosomatidae
Bird Families of the World. Accessed 4 January 2010. Sometimes the Malaysian rail-babbler and

blue-capped ifrit The blue-capped ifrit (''Ifrita kowaldi''), also known as the blue-capped ifrita, is a small and insectivorous passerine species currently placed in the monotypic family, Ifritidae. Previously, the ifrit has been placed in a plethora of families ...

(''Ifrita kowaldi'') were also included in the family. In 1985, Sibley and Ahlquist found that the logrunners were not related to the others and included only the logrunners in the Orthonychidae.Christidis, Les & Walter Boles (2008) ''Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds'', CSIRO Publishing. They treated the others as the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Cinclosomatinae within their expanded family

Corvidae Corvidae is a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies, choughs, and nutcrackers. In colloquial English, they are known as the crow family or corvids. Currently, 13 ...

. A number of authors later treated the quail-thrushes and allies as the family Cinclosomatidae, a name first coined by Gregory Mathews in 1921–1922. However, if the whipbirds are included in the family, the older name Psophodidae Bonaparte, 1854 has priority. If the Malaysian rail-babbler is also included, the name Eupetidae Bonaparte, 1850 has priority. The Malaysian rail-babbler has now been shown to be unrelated to the others, probably being an early offshoot of the

Passerida Passerida is, under the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, one of two parvorders contained within the suborder Passeri (standard taxonomic practice would place them at the rank of infraorder). While more recent research suggests that its sister parvorder ...

. Another study found the quail-thrushes and jewel-babblers to be related to each other but did not show them to have a close relationship with ''Psophodes'' or ''Ifrita''.

Description

Whipbirds and wedgebills are 19–31 cm long. They are mainly olive-green or brown in colour and have a crest.Pizzey, Graham & Frank Knight (1997) ''Field Guide to the Birds of Australia'', HarperCollins, London, UK.

Distribution and habitat

The whipbirds and wedgebills are all found in Australia, occurring in a range of habitats from rainforest to arid scrub. The

western whipbird Western whipbird may refer to the following bird species and subspecies: * ''Psophodes nigrogularis'', the black-throated whipbird ** subspecies: ''Psophodes nigrogularis nigrogularis'', 'western heath' ** subspecies: ''Psophodes nigrogularis obero ...

is considered to be

near-threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

because of

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 fires while the

Papuan whipbird The Papuan whipbird (''Androphobus viridis'') is a little-known and unobtrusive species of bird in the family Psophodidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Androphobus''. It is found in Western New Guinea. It is currently classified as Least ...

is classed as

data deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

.BirdLife International (2009) datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=5607&m=0 Species factsheet: ''Androphobus viridis'' Downloaded from on 4 January 2010.

Behaviour

They are terrestrial birds which fly fairly weakly and prefer to squat or run when disturbed. They forage on the ground feeding mainly on insects and other invertebrates.Perrins, Christopher, ''ed.'' (2004) ''The New Encyclopedia of Birds'', Oxford University Press, Oxford. In the desert, quail-thrushes also eat some seeds. They build a cup-shaped

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materia ...

among shrubs or on the ground. Two or three

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

s are laid.

Species list

* Genus ''Androphobus'' **

, ''Androphobus viridis'' * Genus ''

'' **

Eastern whipbird The eastern whipbird (''Psophodes olivaceus'') is an insectivorous passerine bird native to the east coast of Australia. Its whip-crack song is a familiar sound in forests of eastern Australia. Two subspecies are recognised. Heard much more ofte ...

, ''Psophodes olivaceus'' **

Black-throated whipbird The black-throated whipbird (''Psophodes nigrogularis'') is a passerine bird found in several scattered populations in Southwest Australia. It is predominantly olive green in colour. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with the white-be ...

, ''Psophodes nigrogularis'' **

White-bellied whipbird The white-bellied whipbird (''Psophodes leucogaster''), also called the Mallee whipbird, is a species of bird in the family Psophodidae. It is endemic to southern Australia. Taxonomy The species was formerly considered as a subspecies of ''Psop ...

, ''Psophodes leucogaster'' **

Chiming wedgebill The chiming wedgebill (''Psophodes occidentalis''), sometimes referred to as chiming whipbird, is a species of bird in the family Psophodidae. It is endemic to Australia. The chiming wedgebill and chirruping wedgebill The chirruping wedgebil ...

, ''Psophodes occidentalis'' **

Chirruping wedgebill The chirruping wedgebill (''Psophodes cristatus'') is a medium-sized member of the genus ''Psophodes'', which consists or four to five songbirds endemic to Australia. Commonly found in low shrublands in south-eastern inland Australia, the species ...

, ''Psophodes cristatus''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3034620 Bird families ^ Passeri Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte