The rusty-breasted whistler (''Pachycephala fulvotincta''), also known as the fulvous-tinted 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 ...

. It 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 Indonesia, where it ranges from

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

east to Alor and north to the

Selayar Islands Selayar or Saleyer (Indonesian: ''Kabupaten Selayar'', Dutch: ''Saleijer''), is an archipelago of South Sulawesi province, Indonesia. It lies in the Flores Sea, between Sulawesi and Flores, around 150 km southeast of the major city of Makassar ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The rusty-breasted whistler is variably considered as either 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 the widespread

Australian 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) ...

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. The name 'rusty-breasted whistler' is also used as an alternate name for the rusty whistler.

Subspecies

Five

are recognized: * ''P. f. teysmanni'' – Büttikofer, 1893: Originally described as a separate species. Found on

(south of

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

) * ''P. f. everetti'' –

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 ...

, 1896: Originally described as a separate species. Found on Tanahjampea, Kalaotoa and Madu Islands (south of Sulawesi) * ''P. f. javana'' – Hartert, 1928: Found on eastern Java and

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

* ''P. f. fulvotincta'' –

Wallace Wallace may refer to: People * Clan Wallace in Scotland * Wallace (given name) * Wallace (surname) * Wallace (footballer, born 1986), full name Wallace Fernando Pereira, Brazilian football left-back * Wallace (footballer, born 1987), full name ...

, 1864: Found on western

Lesser Sundas The Lesser Sunda Islands or nowadays known as Nusa Tenggara Islands ( id, Kepulauan Nusa Tenggara, formerly ) are an archipelago in Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up ...

* ''P. f. fulviventris'' – Hartert, 1896: Originally described as a separate species. Found on

Sumba Island Sumba ( id, Pulau Sumba) is an island in eastern Indonesia. It is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands and is in the province of East Nusa Tenggara. Sumba has an area of , and the population was 779,049 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at ...

(south-central Lesser Sundas)

Description

Compared to other members of the golden whistler group, the rusty-breasted whistler is relatively small, and males have a white throat and a rust-tinged chest, except in the subspecies ''teysmanni'' from Selayar Islands where the

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

of the male is female-like.

Distribution and habitat

It is the westernmost member of the golden whistler group, being bordered to the east by the black-chinned and

yellow-throated whistler The yellow-throated whistler (''Pachycephala macrorhyncha'') or Banda Sea whistler, is a species of bird in the family Pachycephalidae. It is endemic to central and south-eastern Wallacea, where it ranges from Timor east to the Tanimbars and nor ...

s, and to the south by the Australian golden whistler.

References

rusty-breasted whistler The rusty-breasted whistler (''Pachycephala fulvotincta''), also known as the fulvous-tinted whistler, is a species of bird in the family Pachycephalidae. It is endemic to Indonesia, where it ranges from Java east to Alor and north to the Selay ...

Birds of the Lesser Sunda Islands

{{Pachycephalidae-stub