The pitohuis
Taxonomy and systematics
The Pitohui
species were formerly all classified in the genus
Pitohui, which at the time was in the family
Pachycephalidae. In 2013 they were separated into several different genera in several different families.
The species are now separated into three families as follows:
Oreoicidae
Pachycephalidae
Oriolidae
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Northern variable pitohui ( Pitohui kirhocephalus)
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Raja Ampat pitohui ( Pitohui cerviniventris)
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Southern variable pitohui ( Pitohui uropygialis)
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Hooded pitohui ( Pitohui dichrous)
Description
Pitohuis are brightly coloured, omnivorous birds. The hooded pitohui has a brick red belly and a jet-black head. The variable pitohui, as its name implies, exists in many different forms, and 20 subspecies with different plumage patterns have been named. Two of them, however, closely resemble the hooded pitohui.
Behaviour and ecology
The skin and feathers of some pitohuis, especially the
Variable pitohui and
, contain powerful
neurotoxin of the
batrachotoxin group (also secreted by the
poison dart frogs, genus
Phyllobates). These are believed to serve the birds as a chemical defence, either against
or against visually guided predators such as
, raptors or humans.
[(Dumbacher, et al., 1992)] The birds probably do not produce batrachotoxin themselves. The toxins most likely come from the beetle genus
Choresine, a part of the birds' diets.
[ (Dumbacher, et al., 2004). ]
The birds' bright colours are suggested to be an example of aposematism (warning colouration), and the similarity of the hooded pitohui and some forms of the variable pitohui might then be an example of Müllerian mimicry, in which dangerous species gain a mutual advantage by sharing colouration, so an encounter with either species trains a predator to avoid both.[(Dumbacher & Fleischer, 2001)]
Relationship to humans
Due to the toxicity of these birds, Papua New Guineans call the pitohuis rubbish birds and do not eat them; in desperate times, however, they can be consumed only after the feathers and skin have been removed and the flesh is coated in charcoal and then roasted.
See also
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del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Christie D. (editors). (2007). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions.
External links
