Solomons Cuckooshrike Edolisoma holopolium Scientific name definitions

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Solomons Cuckooshrike (Solomon)

20–23 cm; 40–63 g. Male nominate race has crown and upperparts, including upperwing-coverts and tertials, grey, variable black nuchal collar (sometimes more or less absent); alula, remiges and tail black, primary-coverts, primaries and secondaries edged grey; base of forehead, head-sides, neck-sides, throat and entire underparts black; iris dark brown; bill and legs black. Distinguished from extremely similar E. montanum (which is endemic to New Guinea) by having broad pale grey edges to secondaries and tertials. Female is generally grey, including on head, with wings as male, tail darker grey, becoming black towards tip, outer feathers broadly tipped grey; eye mid-grey. Juvenile has body fawn-coloured with brown barring, underparts boldly barred, remiges fuscous, edged and tipped fawn, central two rectrices grey, others browner than adult’s and tipped fawn; immature like adult, but throat, breast, undertail-coverts, underwing-coverts and axillaries boldly barred black and white, grading into grey with narrow white bars on flanks and belly, also with white flecks on ear-coverts. Race tricolor is smaller than nominate, male has broad black forehead, broad black nuchal collar, no grey on edges of primaries and primary-coverts, and very pale grey upperwing-coverts and edges of secondaries.

Solomons Cuckooshrike (New Georgia)

20 cm. Compared to formerly conspecific E. holopolium the present species appears to much smaller than nominate, with darker grey upperparts, wing-coverts and flight-feather fringes, and much restricted black on forehead and nuchal collar. Female and juvenile plumages do not appear to have been fully described.

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Solomons Cuckooshrike (Solomon)

Solomons Cuckooshrike (New Georgia)

Solomons Cuckooshrike (New Georgia)

C Solomons (Kolombangara, New Georgia, Vangunu, Gatukai).

Solomons Cuckooshrike (Solomon)

Forest (both primary and secondary) and forest edge, from sea-level to 1200 m.

Solomons Cuckooshrike (New Georgia)

Solomons Cuckooshrike (Solomon)

None recorded.

Solomons Cuckooshrike (New Georgia)

Solomons Cuckooshrike (Solomon)

Apparently eats mainly insects, but also takes fruit. Occurs in canopy, in groups of up to eight individuals, but more usually as singles, pairs or trios; commonly joins mixed-species foraging flocks. Much prey taken by sallying or hovering, but also regularly gleans.

Solomons Cuckooshrike (New Georgia)

Probably very similar to diet and foraging ecology of E. holopolium.

Solomons Cuckooshrike (Solomon)

Rasping or quavering upslurred “vrhee”, “vvrreeeoo” or “toe-hee”, often repeated up to ten times; also a harsh chattering “chur-chur-urur”.

Solomons Cuckooshrike (New Georgia)

Gives a rasping or quavering upslurred “vrhee”, “vvrreeeoo” or “toe-hee”, often repeated up to ten times, with the individual notes downslurred, decelerating and dropping in pitch, unlike those of formerly conspecific E. holopolium.

Solomons Cuckooshrike (Solomon)

Female in breeding condition in Aug on Bougainville. No other information.

Solomons Cuckooshrike (New Georgia)

Solomons Cuckooshrike (Solomon)

Not globally threatened. Currently considered Near Threatened. Restricted-range species: present in the Solomon Group EBA, with an overall range estimated at 162,000 km². Generally rather scarce, especially on Choiseul and Santa Isabel, but regarded as fairly common on Bougainville, Guadalcanal and Buka I; most common in hills and species is unrecorded in lowlands on Malaita. Degree to which it is able to survive in logged and degraded forest is poorly known. Lowland forest throughout the region is threatened by widespread logging; as a large proportion of this species’ population appears to inhabit forest unsuitable for logging, however, its numbers are probably declining only relatively slowly.

Solomons Cuckooshrike (New Georgia)

Not globally threatened. Currently considered Near Threatened. Restricted-range species: present in the Solomon Group EBA, with an overall range estimated at just 6800 km². Generally rather scarce and believed to be declining, especially in lowlands, and degree to which it is able to survive in logged and degraded forest is poorly known. Lowland forest is threatened by widespread logging; as a large proportion of this species’ population appears to inhabit forest unsuitable for logging, however, its numbers are probably declining only relatively slowly.