The oriole whistler (''Pachycephala orioloides''), also known as the yellow-throated whistler (leading to easy confusion with '' Pachycephala macrorhyncha''), is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

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 69 species that are separated into fi ...

, which is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to the

Solomon Islands (archipelago) The Solomon Islands (archipelago) is an island group in the western South Pacific Ocean, north-east of Australia. The archipelago is in the Melanesian subregion and bioregion of Oceania and forms the eastern boundary of the Solomon Sea. ...

Taxonomy and systematics

It is variably considered a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of a widespread golden whistler (''P. pectoralis'') 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 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme of classes (a taxonomy) and the allocation ...

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. ...

''. Volume 12: ''Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees.'' Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Even if not recognized as a separate species, the oriole whistler includes several very different subspecies, though the males are united by their yellow throat.

Subspecies

Nine subspecies are recognized: * ''P. o. bougainvillei'' -

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 * Franz Xaver Mayr (1875–1965), Austrian gastro ...

, 1932: Found on Buka, Bougainville and

Shortland Islands The Shortland Islands is an archipelago of Western Province, Solomon Islands, at . The island group lies in the extreme north-west of the country's territory, close to the south-east edge of Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. The largest is ...

* ''P. o. orioloides'' - Pucheran, 1853: Found on Choiseul, Malakobi, Santa Isabel and

Florida Islands The Nggela Islands or Ngella Islands, previously known as the Florida Islands, are a small island group in the Central Province of Solomon Islands, a sovereign state, since 1978, in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The name Florida Islands fell in ...

* ''P. o. centralis'' - Mayr, 1932: Found on eastern New Georgia Islands * ''P. o. melanoptera'' - Mayr, 1932: Found on southern New Georgia Islands * ''P. o. melanonota'' -

Hartert Ernst Johann Otto Hartert (29 October 1859 – 11 November 1933) was a widely published German people, German ornithologist. Life and career Hartert was born in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg on 29 October 1859. In July 1891, he married ...

, 1908: Originally described as a separate species. Found on Ranongga and

Vella Lavella Vella Lavella is an island in the Western Province (Solomon Islands), Western Province of Solomon Islands. It lies to the west of New Georgia, but is considered one of the New Georgia Islands, New Georgia Group. To its west are the Treasury Isla ...

* ''P. o. pavuvu'' - Mayr, 1932: Found on Pavuvu * ''P. o. sanfordi'' - Mayr, 1931: Originally described as a separate species. Found on

Malaita Malaita is the primary island of Malaita Province in Solomon Islands. Malaita is the most populous island of the Solomon Islands, with a population of 161,832 as of 2021, or more than a third of the entire national population. It is also the se ...

* ''P. o. cinnamomea'' - ( Ramsay, EP, 1879): Originally described as a separate species in the genus '' Pseudorectes''. Found on Beagle Island and

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...

* ''P. o. christophori'' - Tristram, 1879: Originally described as a separate species. Found on Santa Ana and San Cristóbal Island

Distribution

The oriole whistler is found throughout the Solomons, except in the

Santa Cruz Islands The Santa Cruz Islands form an archipelago in Temotu Province, Solomon Islands. They lie approximately to the southeast of the Solomon Islands (archipelago), Solomon Islands archipelago, just north of the archipelago of Vanuatu and are con ...

References

oriole whistler Birds of the Solomon Islands oriole whistler {{Pachycephalidae-stub