The southern variable pitohui (''Pitohui uropygialis'') is a species of pitohui in the family Oriolidae. It is found on

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 neighbouring islands. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is subtropical or tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s. It is also one of the few known poisonous birds, it carries the toxic compound

homobatrachotoxin Batrachotoxin (BTX) is an extremely potent cardio- and neurotoxic steroidal alkaloid found in certain species of beetles, birds, and frogs. The name is from the Greek word grc, βάτραχος, bátrachos, frog, label=none. Structurally-related ...

s in its feathers and skin.

Taxonomy and systematics

This species was split from the northern variable pitohui in 2013.

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. u. uropygialis'' - ( Gray, GR, 1862): Found on

Salawati Salawati is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in Southwest Papua (formerly West Papua), Indonesia. Its area is 1,623 km2. Salawati is separated from New Guinea to the southeast by the Sele Strait (a.k.a. Galowa Strai ...

and

Misool Misool, formerly spelled Mysol (Dutch: Misoöl) or Misol, is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in Southwest Papua, Indonesia. Its area is 2,034 km2. The highest point is 561 m and the main towns are Waigama, located ...

Islands ( western Papuan Islands) and western

Vogelkop The Bird's Head Peninsula ( Indonesian: ''Kepala Burung'', nl, Vogelkop) or Doberai Peninsula (''Semenanjung Doberai''), is a large peninsula that makes up the northwest portion of the island of New Guinea, comprising the Indonesian provinces ...

(north-western New Guinea) * ''P. u. brunneiceps'' - ( D'Albertis & Salvadori, 1879): Originally described as a separate species. Found from Gulf of Papua to Fly River (southern New Guinea) * ''P. u. nigripectus'' - van Oort, 1909: Found from Mimika River to

Pulau River The Pulau River ( id, Sungai Pulau, nl, Eilandenrivier) is a major river in South Papua province of Indonesia, with a total length of . Name It was previously known as the Eilanden River based on Dutch colonial expedition maps, and was still s ...

(southern New Guinea) * ''P. u. aruensis'' - ( Sharpe, 1877): Originally described as a separate species. Found on

Aru Islands The Aru Islands Regency ( id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru) is a group of about 95 low-lying islands in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. It also forms a regency of Maluku Province, with a land area of . At the 2011 Census the Regency had a po ...

(off south-western New Guinea) * ''P. u. meridionalis'' - (Sharpe, 1888): Originally described as a separate species. Found in south-eastern New Guinea

References

Pitohui Pitohui (genus) Birds described in 1862 Taxa named by George Robert Gray {{Pachycephalidae-stub