Biology:Mohoua
Mohoua is a genus of three bird species endemic to New Zealand. The scientific name is taken from mohua – the Māori name for the yellowhead.[1] Their taxonomic placement has presented problems: They have typically been placed in the whistler family, Pachycephalidae, but in 2013 it was established that they are best placed in their own family, Mohouidae.[2] A large molecular genetic study published in 2019 found that the family is sister to the family Neosittidae, containing the three sittellas.[3]
All three species display some degree of sexual dimorphism in terms of size, with the males being the larger of the two sexes.[4] Mohoua are gregarious (more so outside the breeding season) and usually forage in groups. They also forage in mixed species flocks at times, frequently forming the nucleus of such flocks.[1] Social organization and behaviour is well documented for all three Mohoua species; cooperative breeding has been observed in all three species and is common in the whitehead and yellowhead.[1] The three species are the sole hosts for the long-tailed cuckoo (Urodynamis taitensis), which acts as a brood parasite upon them, pushing their eggs out of the nest and laying a single one of its own in their place so that they take no part in incubation of their eggs or in raising their young.[4]
Taxonomy
The genus Mohoua was introduced in 1837 by the French naturalist René Lesson to accommodate a single species, the yellowhead, which is therefore the type species of the genus.[5][6]
Species
| Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitehead
|
Mohoua albicilla (Lesson, 1830) |
North Island | Size: Habitat: Diet: |
LC
|
| Pipipi or New Zealand brown creeper | Mohoua novaeseelandiae (Gmelin, 1789) |
South Island | Size: Habitat: Diet: |
LC
|
| Yellowhead
|
Mohoua ochrocephala (Gmelin, 1789) |
South Island | Size: Habitat: Diet: |
NT |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds"; Volume 7, edited by Peter Higgins, OUP, 2000
- ↑ Aidala, Z.; Chong, N.; Anderson, M.G.; Ortiz-Catedral, L.; Jamieson, I.G.; Briskie, J.V.; Cassey, P.; Gill, B.J. et al. (2013). "Phylogenetic relationships of the genus Mohoua, endemic hosts of New Zealand's obligate brood parasitic Long-tailed Cuckoo (Eudynamys taitensis)". Journal of Ornithology 154 (4): 1127–1133. doi:10.1007/s10336-013-0978-8. Bibcode: 2013JOrni.154.1127A.
- ↑ Oliveros, C.H. (2019). "Earth history and the passerine superradiation". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States 116 (16): 7916–7925. doi:10.1073/pnas.1813206116. PMID 30936315. Bibcode: 2019PNAS..116.7916O.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Barrie Heather and Hugh Robertson, The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand (revised edition), Viking, 2005
- ↑ Lesson, René (1837) (in French). Histoire Naturelle Générale et Particulière des Mammifères et des Oiseaux Décoverts Depuis la Mort de Buffon. 9, Oiseaux. Paris: Pourrat Frères. p. 139. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33058764.
- ↑ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 460. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14484161. Note that Mayr gives the wrong title and date for Lesson's book.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 BirdLife International (2022). "Mohoua ochrocephala". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22705397/209465053.
- 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. ISBN 978-84-96553-42-2
Template:Corvides Wikidata ☰ Q1959514 entry
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