Gray Whistler Pachycephala simplex Scientific name definitions

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Grey Whistler (Pachycephala simplex)

14–15 cm; 16–20 g. Male has off-white supercilium from side of forehead to above eye and broken eyering, greyish-brown lores and ear-coverts; neck side and upperparts olive-brown, upperwing grey-brown, primaries and greater primary coverts edged pale brown; tail dark olive-brown, rectrices edged paler; off-white below, chin and throat faintly streaked light brown, breast washed with brown, sometimes with darker streaking; iris reddish-brown; bill and legs black. Sexes alike. Juvenile is rufous, underparts paler and lighter, remiges, rectrices and primary coverts edged rufous, secondary coverts rufous; immature like adult, but retains juvenile remiges and primary coverts, has paler bill. 

Brown Whistler (Pachycephala griseiceps)

14–15 cm; 20–24 g (New Guinea), 15–20 g (peninsulae). Nominate race has off-white supercilium from sides of forehead to above eye, pale broken eyering, greyish-brown lores and browner ear-coverts; forehead and crown to nape and neck-sides brownish grey, upperparts olive, upperwing and tail olive-brown with paler brown fringes; off-white below, chin and throat very faintly streaked light brown, breast washed brown, belly to undertail-coverts with very pale creamy-buff/yellowish wash; iris reddish- brown; bill and legs black. Sexes alike. Juvenile is mostly rufous, paler and lighter below, with remiges, rectrices and wing-coverts edged rufous; immature like adult, but with juvenile remiges and primary-coverts, paler bill. Races differ mainly in plumage tones, amount of yellow in plumage, and degree of streaking below: <em>brunnescens</em> lacks yellow pigment, has upperparts deeper brown, throat more heavily streaked, breast and flanks washed rufous-brown; waigeuensis has streaks on throat faint, breast without brown wash, belly pale yellow; gagiensis is like previous but slightly larger; <em>jobiensis</em> is likewise similar, but belly brighter yellow; perneglecta is like nominate but has heavier streaking on throat; sudestensis is same as last in plumage, but larger and with longer bill; peninsulae  is similar to previous two, but upperparts  not so deeply coloured, throat less heavily streaked, wash on breast reduced; rufipennis is like nominate but back less olive, belly whiter; and miosnomensis is larger, with wings longer.

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Grey Whistler (Pachycephala simplex)

Usually treated as conspecific with P. griseiceps; split was proposed on basis of “morphological and vocal differences” (1 Sibley, C. G., and B. L. Monroe (1990). Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, USA, and London, UK. Close ), and this position is followed here, since this form differs from all taxa in P. griseiceps in its white vs yellowish or buffy-yellowish belly (2); pale grey-brown vs olive-brown or dull rufous-brown upperparts (1); song phrase of all different short slurred whistles, some rather complex in shape, vs a series of introductory notes which slightly descend in pitch and become longer and louder, ending in a few near-identical emphasized notes—hence to be scored for its strongly different initial note lengths (3), lack of amplitude difference between introductory start and emphatic end (2) and more complex note shapes (ns[1]). Monotypic.

Brown Whistler (Pachycephala griseiceps)

Usually treated as conspecific with P. simplex (see that species). Race brunnescens previously listed under older name dubia, but latter is preoccupied (2 Dickinson, E. C., and L. Christidis, Editors (2014). The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Fourth Edition. Volume 2. Aves Press, Eastbourne, UK. Close ); this race has been suggested (3 Schodde, R., and I. J. Mason (1999) The Directory of Australian Birds. Passerines. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria, Australia. Close , 4 Pratt, T. K., and B. M. Beehler (2015) Birds of New Guinea. Second edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA. Close ) to belong instead in P. simplex (sensu stricto), but it seems improbable on biogeographical grounds and curious on basis of morphology, since brunnescens, while distinctive, seems closer in its warm colours to other taxa in P. griseiceps (and certainly sudestensis). Forms waigeuensis, gagiensis and perneglecta sometimes synonymized with nominate griseiceps, and miosnomensis with jobiensis (5 Beehler, B. M., and T. K. Pratt (2016). Birds of New Guinea: Distribution, Taxonomy, and Systematics. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ). Ten subspecies recognized.

Grey Whistler (Pachycephala simplex)

Grey Whistler (Pachycephala simplex)

Inhabits tall rainforest, monsoon rainforest, drier vine forest, often on margins and regrowth, adjacent open forest; also mangroves.

Brown Whistler (Pachycephala griseiceps)

In New Guinea inhabits rainforest, monsoon forest, tall second growth, forest edges, gallery forest and, locally, mangrove forest, partly cut forest, dense second growth; more numerous at forest edge; lowlands and hills to 1400 m, locally to 1550 m. In NE Australia (race peninsulae) found mainly in gallery forest and tall rainforest, monsoon rainforest, drier vine forest, and often on margins and in regrowth, adjacent open forest; in lowlands, to 900 m on Atherton Tableland.

Grey Whistler (Pachycephala simplex)

Sedentary. Possibly some shift in dry season to dry vine thickets.

Brown Whistler (Pachycephala griseiceps)

Sedentary; all recoveries of marked individuals, in both New Guinea and Australia, less than 10 km from site of original ringing. Some of NE Queensland population (race peninsulae) may move to lower elevations in winter.

Grey Whistler (Pachycephala simplex)

Mainly insects, some spiders (Araneae); occasionally seeds. Forages mainly in middle to upper storey and canopy, occasionally below 1 m: in Northern Territory rainforest 20% of foraging at 2–3 m and 80% at 4–7 m, in mangroves 26·8% at 1·1–2 m, 41·5 % at 2·1–4 m, 19·5 % at 4·1–8 m and 4·1% above 8 m. Forages mainly in foliage (72–83%), remainder of time on branches (9–24%) and in vines (7–27%). Most prey captured by gleaning (55–86%) or flutter-gleaning (3–46%), sometimes sally-striking from leaf surface (7–28%), rarely in air. May join mixed-species foraging flocks.

Brown Whistler (Pachycephala griseiceps)

Mainly insects, some spiders (Araneae); occasionally seeds. In New Guinea, forages mostly at c. 5–30 m, less frequently lower, and exceptionally near ground. In Australia, forages mainly in middle to upper storey and canopy, occasionally below 1 m: in limited studies in NE Queensland, roughly one-third of observations each in lower, middle and upper thirds of forest, shifting to higher levels of forest in wet season. Forages mainly in foliage (72–83%), rest of time on branches (9–24%) and in vines (7–27%). Most prey captured by gleaning (55–86%) or flutter-gleaning (3–46%), sometimes sally-striking from leaf surface (7–28%), rarely in air. In New Guinea, prey captured by gleaning (58%) and snatching (27%), less often by hovering (11%) and sallying (4%); items taken mainly from leaves (56%) and branches (39%), occasionally from vines (2%) or in air (4%). Often joins mixed-species foraging flocks.

Grey Whistler (Pachycephala simplex)

Song a slow series of short slurred whistles, “eee-see-wee-weekyou”, sometimes with concluding whipcrack note. Calls include short whistles.

Brown Whistler (Pachycephala griseiceps)

Song consists of a series of short introductory notes that descend slightly in pitch and become longer and louder, ending in a few near-identical emphasized notes (P. simplex, on the other hand, has a song phrase of all different short slurred whistles, some rather complex in shape). While structure of song similar for all races, some variation is evident: e.g. peninsulae gives 5–10 clear whistled notes, transliterated as “one-two-three-four-five” or “catch-a-fish-alive”; brunnescens has 2–5 not particularly melodious notes, followed by louder, mildly explosive, downslurred “chew”, given 1–5 times; perneglecta has several loud, liquid, melodious notes in repeated pattern of downslur, “tew”, followed by longer upslur, “wheeit”, increasing in volume, and with final upslur mildly explosive. Calls include 2–3 muted short whistled notes, each on different pitch, somewhat resembling first few notes of song (<em>brunnescens</em> ); or two short notes, second lower (<em>peninsulae</em> ).

Grey Whistler (Pachycephala simplex)

Breeds Dec–Mar, possibly also Apr–Sept. Maintains loose territory throughout year. Nest a cup of grass, leaves, rootlets, twigs, plant fibre, sometimes spider web, lined with tendrils, feathers and grassheads, external diameter 7·6–10·2 cm, height 5·7–7·6 cm, internal diameter 5·1–6·4 cm, depth 3·2–5·1 cm; placed in fork of branch, foliage in vine or among upright shoots on stump, usually at 6–15 m (sometimes lower). Clutch 2 eggs, pale buff with dark brown and lilac spots, 21·6–23·4 × 15·2–16·3 mm; no information on incubation and fledging periods.

Brown Whistler (Pachycephala griseiceps)

Records suggest breeding peaks in New Guinea mainly at end of wet season and during second half of dry season, some also in early dry and early wet seasons; in NE Australia, race peninsulae breeds in Oct–Jan (possibly any month, depending on food). Maintains loose territory throughout year. Nest a cup of grass, leaves, rootlets, twigs, plant fibres, sometimes spider web, lined with tendrils, feathers and grass seed heads, external diameter 7·6–10·2 cm, height 5·7–7·6 cm, internal diameter 5·1–6·4 cm, depth 3·2–5·1 cm; placed in fork of branch, foliage in vine or among upright shoots on stump, 2·7–12 m from ground in New Guinea, usually at 6–15 m (sometimes lower) in Australia. Clutch two eggs, white with brown and lavender spots mostly at larger end (peninsulae), mean size 21·1 × 15·9 mm; no information on incubation and fledging periods.

Grey Whistler (Pachycephala simplex)

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Generally common in suitable habitats. Australia; densities of up to 3+birds/ha at various localities.

Brown Whistler (Pachycephala griseiceps)

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Common at lower elevations in New Guinea; density at study site near R Brown (SE New Guinea) estimated at 20 birds/10 ha. Generally common in Australia, where densities of 0·24–3·9 birds/ha at various localities.