The Fiji shrikebill (''Clytorhynchus vitiensis'') is a

songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5000 ...

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 ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Monarchidae. It is found in

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internationa ...

, Fiji, and

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

. 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' ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The Fiji shrikebill was originally described as belonging to the genus '' Myiolestes''. Alternate names include the lesser shrikebill and uniform shrikebill.

Subspecies

Twelve subspecies are recognized: * Rotuman lesser shrikebill (''C. v. wiglesworthi'') -

Mayr Mayr is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andrea Mayr (born 1979), Austrian female long-distance runner * Ernst Mayr (1904–2005), German American evolutionary biologist * Georg Mayr (1564–1623), Bavarian Jesuit pries ...

, 1933: Found on

Rotuma Island Rotuma is a Fijian dependency, consisting of Rotuma Island and nearby islets. The island group is home to a large and unique Polynesian indigenous ethnic group which constitutes a recognisable minority within the population of Fiji, known as ...

(northern Fiji) * ''C. v. brunneus'' - ( Ramsay, EP, 1875): Found on Kadavu, Ono and Vanua Kula (south-western Fiji) * ''C. v. buensis'' - ( Layard, EL, 1876): Originally described as a separate species in the genus '' Myiolestes''. Found on Vana Levu and

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(northern Fiji) * ''C. v. vitiensis'' - ( Hartlaub, 1866): Found in western Fiji * ''C. v. layardi'' - Mayr, 1933: Found on

Taveuni Taveuni (pronounced ) is the third-largest island in Fiji, after Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, with a total land area of . The cigar-shaped island, a massive shield volcano which rises from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, is situated to the east of ...

(central Fiji) * ''C. v. pontifex'' - Mayr, 1933: Found on

Qamea Qamea (pronounced ) is one of three islets lying to the east of Thurston Point on the island of Taveuni, Fiji, the others being Matagi and Laucala. Geography Qamea lies some 2.5 kilometers east of Thurston Point and covers an area of 34 square ...

and Rabi (northern Fiji) * Vanuatu lesser shrikebill (''C. v. vatuanus'') - Mayr, 1933: Found on northern

Lau Islands The Lau Islands aka little Tonga (also called the Lau Group, the Eastern Group, the Eastern Archipelago) of Fiji are situated in the southern Pacific Ocean, just east of the Koro Sea. Of this chain of about sixty islands and islets, about thirty ...

(eastern Fiji) * ''C. v. nesiotes'' - ( Wetmore, 1919): Originally described as a separate species. Found on southern Lau Islands (eastern Fiji) * Futuna lesser shrikebill (''C. v. fortunae'') - (Layard, EL, 1876): Originally described as a separate species in the genus '' Myiolestes''. Found on Futuna and

Alofi Alofi is the capital of the Pacific Ocean island nation of Niue. With a population of 597 in 2017, Alofi has the distinction of being the second smallest national capital city in terms of population (after Ngerulmud, capital of Palau). It cons ...

(north-east of Fiji) * ''C. v. heinei'' - ( Finsch & Hartlaub, 1870): Originally described as a separate species in the genus '' Myiolestes''. Found on central

Tonga Islands Located in Oceania, Tonga is a small archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, directly south of Samoa and about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand. It has 169 islands, 36 of them inhabited, which are in three main groups – Vavaʻu ...

* ''C. v. keppeli'' - Mayr, 1933: Found on

Niuatoputapu Niuatoputapu is a high island in the island nation of Tonga, Pacific Ocean. Its highest point is , and its area is . Its name means ''sacred island''. Older European names for the island are Traitors Island or Keppel Island. Niuatoputapu is ...

and

Tafahi Tafahi is a small () island in the north of the Tonga archipelago, in fact closer to Savaii (Samoa) than to the main islands of Tonga. It is only north-northeast away from Niuatoputapu, and fishermen commute in small outboard motorboats almost d ...

(northern Tonga) * Manu’a shrikebill (''C. v. powelli'') - ( Salvin, 1879): Originally described as a separate species. Found on Samoa but may have gone extinct in the 1990s due to

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 ...

References

Clytorhynchus Birds of Fiji Birds described in 1866 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Gustav Hartlaub {{Monarchidae-stub