Ailuroedus
{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Green Catbird maiala apr06.jpg
| taxon = Ailuroedus
| authority = Cabanis, 1851
| type_species = Ptilonorhynchus smithii Vigors & Horsfield, 1827=Lanius crassirostris Paykull, 1815
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
see text
}}
Ailuroedus is a genus of birds in the bowerbird family, Ptilonorhynchidae, native to forests in Australia and New Guinea. The common name, catbird, refers to these species' "wailing cat-like calls".{{cite book | last = Rowland | first = Peter | year = 2008 | title = Bowerbirds | publisher = CSIRO Publishing | page = 7 | isbn = 978-0-643-09420-8 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Ofqfr_eyqRIC&pg=PA7 | access-date = 2009-05-07}} The scientific name Ailuroedus is derived from the Greek 'ailouros', meaning cat, and 'eidos', referring to form (or perhaps from oaidos, singer).
Taxonomy
The genus Ailuroedus was introduced in 1851 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis to accommodate a single species, Ptilonorhynchus smithii Vigors and Horsfield.{{ cite book | last=Cabanis | first=Jean | author-link=Jean Cabanis | year=1850–1851 | title=Museum Heineanum : Verzeichniss der ornithologischen Sammlung des Oberamtmann Ferdinand Heine, auf Gut St. Burchard vor Halberstadt | volume=1 | language=German, Latin | location=Halberstadt | publisher=R. Frantz | page=213, footnote | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/49584592 }} For the publication date of volume 1 see: {{ cite book | last1=Dickinson | first1=E.C. | author1-link=Edward C. Dickinson | last2=Overstreet | first2=L.K. | last3=Dowsett | first3=R.J. | last4=Bruce | first4=M.D. | year=2011 | title=Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: a Directory to the literature and its reviewers | location=Northampton, UK | publisher=Aves Press | isbn=978-0-9568611-1-5 | pages=80-81 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267763194 }} This is a junior synonym of Lanius crassirostris Paykull, 1815, the green catbird.{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Greenway | editor2-first=James C. Jr | year=1962 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=15 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=172 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14485545 }} The genus name combines the Ancient Greek αιλουρος/ailouros meaning "cat" with αοιδος/aoidos or ωδος/ōdos meaning "singer".{{ cite web | last=Jobling | first=James A. | title=Ailuroedus | work=The Key to Scientific Names | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=Ailuroedus | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | access-date=30 May 2025 }}
Traditionally, the Ailuroedus catbirds were classified as three species. However, a 2015 phylogenetic and morphological article by Martin Irestedt and collaborators revealed seven new species, leading to a total of ten distinct species.{{Cite journal | last1=Irestedt | first1=M. | last2=Batalha-Filho | first2=H. | last3=Roselaar | first3=C.S. | last4=Christidis | first4=L. | last5=Ericson | first5=P.G.P. | date=2016 | title=Contrasting phylogeographic signatures in two Australo-Papuan bowerbird species complexes (Aves: Ailuroedus) | journal=Zoologica Scripta | volume=45 | issue=4 | pages=365-379 | doi=10.1111/zsc.12163}} In the same study, the results confirmed that the catbirds are divided into two major clades, a lowland group consisting of the New Guinean white-eared catbird, and a mid-mountain clade including the black-eared catbird and the Australian green catbird.
File:Spotted Catbird - Lake Eacham - Queensland S4E7917 (22198565830).jpg, Queensland.]]
=Species=
- Ochre-breasted catbird (Ailuroedus stonii)
- White-eared catbird (Ailuroedus buccoides)
- Tan-capped catbird (Ailuroedus geislerorum)
- Green catbird (Ailuroedus crassirostris)
- Spotted catbird (Ailuroedus maculosus)
- Huon catbird (Ailuroedus astigmaticus)
- Black-capped catbird (Ailuroedus melanocephalus)
- Northern catbird (Ailuroedus jobiensis)
- Arfak catbird (Ailuroedus arfakianus)
- Black-eared catbird (Ailuroedus melanotis)
Description
Catbirds are characterize by ivory-colored bill with the hooked maxilla, large head, green dorsal plumage, ventral spotting, powerful grasping claws and fig-eating habit.{{cite book |last1=Beehler |first1=Bruce McPherson |last2=Pratt |first2=Thane K. |title=Birds of New Guinea: distribution, taxonomy, and systematics |date=2016 |publisher=Princeton university press |location=Princeton (N.J.) |isbn=978-0-691-16424-3}}
In contrast to the other genera within the Ptilonorhynchidae family, all of the Ailuroedus catbirds lack marked sexual dimorphism, are pair bonded, monogamous breeders, with both parents caring for the offspring.{{Cite book|last=Gregory|first=Phil|title=Birds of Paradise and Bowerbirds: An Identification Guide|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2020|isbn=9780691202143|pages=323}} They form pair bonds in which the male helps to build the nest, and have simple arboreal chasing displays, without bowers or stages.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Bowerbird|state=expanded}}
{{Passeriformes|Pa.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q553009}}