Other Names (World)
Little Shrike-thrush, Rufous-breasted Shrike-thrush, Rusty-breasted Shrike-thrush, Fawn-breasted Shrike-thrush, Little Thrush, Red Thrush, Rufous Thrush, Brown Shrike-flycatcher, Rufous Shrike-thrush (megarhyncha), Allied Shrike-thrush, Allied Rufous Shrike-thrush, Brown Shrike-thrush, Least Shrike-thrush, Red-breasted Shrike-thrush, Red Shrike-thrush, Arafura Shrikethrush, Little Shrikethrush
Habitat
Mainly rainforests, including gallery forests, monsoon rainforest and vine forest and thickets, also subtropical and littoral rainforest. Sometimes in other dense vegetation such as mangroves and wet sclerophyll forests.
Arafura Shrikethrush (Colluricincla megarhyncha) [XC863518]
by JACOB Herv\u00e9 from Claravale, Katherine Municipality, Northern Territory, Australia (call, song)
Arafura Shrikethrush (Colluricincla megarhyncha) [XC395443]
by Marc Anderson from Klasow Valley, Sorong, Papua Barat, Indonesia (song)
Nest
Cup-shaped, composed of dried leaves, strips of bark and rootlets, lined with fine rootlets and grass, placed in a bush or small tree or in a mass of vines.
Eggs (Guide)
2 or 3; glossy, pearly white to pale pink-brown, freckled with varying amounts of olive, slate or red-brown, particularly at the larger end; log-oval to short-oval; about 25 x 19 mm. Incubation: about 16 - 17 days; probably by both sexes.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 10 days. Fed by both parents.
Subspecies
Colluricincla megarhyncha (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) has been split into Little Shrike-thrush (Colluricincla megarhyncha) and Sangihe Whistler (Coracornis sanghirensis) following Rozendaal and Lambert (1999).
Described subspecies wuroi (from southern New Guinea) synonymized with goodsoni; conigravi (from Admiralty Gulf, in northern Western Australia) merged with parvula.
The following 29 subspecies are recognised:
affinis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1830) - Northern West Papuan Is (Waigeo).
batantae ( Meise, 1929) - Batanta I.
misoliensis ( Meise, 1929) - Misool I.
megarhyncha (Quoy & Gaimard, 1830) - Salawati I and western New Guinea from Vogelkop to Wandammen district, foot of Nassau Mts and Oranje Range.
melanorhyncha ( A. B. Meyer, 1874) - Biak I, in Geelvink Bay (north-western New Guinea).
obscura ( A. B. Meyer, 1874) - Yapen I (in Geelvink Bay). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Mamberamo Shrike-Thrush (Colluricincla obscura).
ferruginea ( E. J. O. Hartert and Paludan, 1936) - Foot of Weyland Mts at head of Geelvink Bay.
hybridus ( Meise, 1929) - Northern New Guinea from R Mamberamo east to Humboldt Bay. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Mamberamo Shrike-Thrush (Colluricincla obscura).
idenburgi ( Rand, 1940) - Slopes south of R Idenburg (west-central New Guinea).
maeandrina ( Stresemann, 1921) - East-central New Guinea (upper R Sepik, Victor Emanuel Mts). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Sepik-Ramu Shrike-Thrush (Colluricincla tappenbecki).
tappenbecki Reichenow, 1899 - North-eastern New Guinea from lower and middle R Sepik and Central Highlands east to Astrolabe Bay. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Sepik-Ramu Shrike-Thrush (Colluricincla tappenbecki).
madaraszi ( Rothschild and E. J. O. Hartert, 1903) - Huon Peninsula (north-eastern New Guinea). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Sepik-Ramu Shrike-Thrush (Colluricincla tappenbecki).
aruensis (Gray, GR, 1858) - Aru Is.
goodsoni ( E. J. O. Hartert, 1930) - Southern New Guinea (Merauke District). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Rufous Shrike-Thrush (Colluricincla rufogaster).
palmeri ( Rand, 1938) - R Fly basin (southern between R Oriomo and R Morehead), in southern New Guinea.
neos ( Mayr, 1931) - Eastern New Guinea (Herzog Mts, upper R Watut and southern coast of Huon Gulf).
superflua ( Rothschild and E. J. O. Hartert, 1912) - Northern coast of south-eastern New Guinea (R Aicora east to Collingwood Bay).
despecta ( Rothschild and E. J. O. Hartert, 1903) - Southern coast of south-eastern New Guinea (Hall Sound/R Angabunga east to Milne Bay). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Shrike-Thrush (Colluricincla fortis).
trobriandi ( E. J. O. Hartert, 1896) - Trobriand Is, off south-eastern New Guinea. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Shrike-Thrush (Colluricincla fortis).
fortis ( Gadow, 1883) - D'Entrecasteaux Archipelago (Goodenough I, Fergusson I, Normanby I). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Shrike-Thrush (Colluricincla fortis).
discolor De Vis, 1890 - Louisiade Archipelago (Tagula I).
parvula Gould, 1845 - North-eastern western Australia and northern Northern Territory (east to eastern Arnhem Land and Groote Eylandt).
aelptes Schodde and Mason, 1976 - North-eastern northern Territory (around mouth of R McArthur).
normani ( Mathews, 1914) - Northern Australia on coastal Gulf of Carpentaria and northern Queensland (Cape York Peninsula), and islands in Torres Strait.
griseata ( G. R. Gray, 1858) - North-eastern Queensland. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Rufous Shrike-Thrush (Colluricincla rufogaster).
synaptica Schodde and Mason, 1999 - Eastern Queensland coast (southern Halifax Bay south to Sarina).
gouldii ( G. R. Gray, 1858) - Eastern Queensland coast (Broad Bay south to Hervey Bay).
rufogaster Gould, 1845 - South-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Rufous Shrike-Thrush (Colluricincla rufogaster).
wuroi Mayr & Rand, 1936 - Southern New Guinea (Oriomo River to Morehead River).
Similar Species
In northern NT and in poor views with brown subspecies of Grey Whistler (Pachycephala simplex) which has a much shorter and stubbier bill, proportionately larger and more rounded head, no pale supercillium and no streaking on the breast.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet