Tooth-billed bowerbird
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Tooth-billed bowerbird
| status = NT
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| image = Tooth-billed Bowerbird, Lake Eacham, Queensland.jpg
| genus = Scenopoeetes
| parent_authority = Coues, 1891
| species = dentirostris
| authority = (Ramsay, 1876)
}}
The tooth-billed bowerbird (Scenopoeetes dentirostris), also known as the stagemaker bowerbird or tooth-billed catbird, is a species of passerine bird in the bowerbird family Ptilonorhynchidae. It is the only species placed in the genus Scenopoeetes. It is found in the Cape York Peninsula and northeast Queensland of northeast Australia.
Taxonomy
The tooth-billed bowerbird was formally described in 1876 by the Australian zoologist Edward Pierson Ramsay. He introduced a new genus Scenopoeus and coined the binomial name Scenopoeus dentirostris.{{ cite journal | last=Ramsay | first=Edward Pierson | author-link=Edward Pierson Ramsay | date=1875 | publication-date=1876 | title=List of birds met with in North-eastern Queensland, chiefly at Rockingham Bay | journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London | volume=4 | pages=578-603 [591-593] | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/6456501}} Unfortunately the name Scenopoeus had earlier been used by Louis Agassiz for a genus of insects and in 1891 the American ornithologist Elliott Coues introduced a replacement name, Scenopoeetes.{{ cite journal | last=Coues | first=Elliott | author-link=Elliott Coues | date=1891 | title=Scenopoeetes dentirostris | journal=Auk | volume=8 | page=115 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16317407 }}{{ 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=175 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14485548 }} The genus name Scenopoeetes combines the Ancient Greek σκηνη/skēnē meaning "stage" or "tent" with ποιητης/poiētēs meaning "maker".{{ cite web | last=Jobling | first=James A. | title=Scenopoeetes | work=The Key to Scientific Names | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=Scenopoeetes | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | access-date=31 May 2025 }} The specific epithet dentirostris is derived from Latin dens, dentis meaning "tooth" and "-rostris" meaning "-billed".{{ cite web | last=Jobling | first=James A. | title=dentirostris | work=The Key to Scientific Names | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=dentirostris | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | access-date=31 May 2025 }} The tooth-billed bowerbird is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=February 2025 | title=Lyrebirds, scrubbirds, bowerbirds, Australasian treecreepers, Australasian wrens | work=IOC World Bird List Version 15.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/lyrebirds/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=31 May 2025 }}
Description
The tooth-billed bowerbird is a medium-sized (approximately {{convert|27|cm|inch}} long) bowerbird. It is a stocky olive-brown bird with brown-streaked buffish white underparts, grey feet, a brown iris and a distinctive serrated bill.{{cite web|title=Scenopoeetes dentirostris|url=http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/biodiversity/taxon_profile.cfm?taxon_id=59323|work=Australian Antarctic Data Centre|publisher=Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Community|access-date=28 June 2012}}{{cite book| last=Marshall| first=Jock | title=Bower-birds, their displays and breeding cycles : a preliminary statement | date=1954 |page=154 | publisher=Clarendon Press }}{{cite book|last=Hutchinson|first=G. Evelyn|title=The itinerant ivory tower; scientific and literary essays|year=1970|publisher=Books for Libraries Press|location=Freeport, N.Y.|isbn=083691712X|pages=56–59}} The sexes are similar, but the female is slightly smaller than the male.
Distribution and habitat
The tooth-billed bowerbird is endemic to the mountain forests of northeast Queensland, Australia.{{cite web|title=Tooth-billed Bowerbird (Scenopoeetes dentirostris)|url=http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=5168|publisher=BirdLife International|access-date=28 June 2012}} Its diet consists mainly of fruits and young leaves of forest trees.
Behaviour
=Breeding=
The male is polygamous and builds a display-court or "stage-type bower" (hence the alternate name stagemaker), decorated with fresh green leaves laid with their pale undersides facing up.{{cite book|last=Rowland|first=Peter|title=Bowerbirds|year=2008|publisher=CSIRO Pub.|location=Collingwood, Vic.|isbn=9780643094208|page=22}} The leaves are collected by the male by chewing through the leaf stalk and old leaves are removed from the display-court. The display-court consists of a cleared area containing at least one tree trunk used by the male for perching. Upon the approach of a female the male drops to the ground and displays.
Conservation status
A common species in its limited habitat and range, the tooth-billed bowerbird is evaluated as near threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
File:Tooth-billed Catbird audio09.ogg, Lake Barrine, North Queensland, Australia]]
References
{{Reflist}}
Sources
- Pizzey, G and Knight, F. (1997). "The Field Guide to Birds of Australia". Angus and Robertson. Sydney.
External links
- [http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=5168&m=0 BirdLife Species Factsheet]
{{Bowerbird|state=expanded}}
{{Passeriformes|Pa.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q143736}}
Category:Birds of Cape York Peninsula