This individual belong to the race gordoni, the so-called Melville Island Friarbird. As in the other race found in the Northern Territory (race ammitophila), its knob is greatly reduced compared to individuals from Queensland (race yorki).
Photo by tcollins
Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, February 2006
Photo by tcollins
Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, February 2006
- Philemon buceroides
Includes: New Guinea Friarbird; Hornbill Friarbird
Identification
32–36 cm (12½-14¼ in)
- Black face
- Pale greyish underparts
Distribution
Australia, New Guinea and Lesser Sundas (Indonesia).
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Clements1 accepts six subspecies:
- P. b. neglectus of the Western Lesser Sundas
- P. b. buceroides of the East Lesser Sundas
- P. b. gordoni of the Northern Territory (Australia)
- P. b. ammitophila of Northern Australia
- P. b. yorki of North-eastern Queensland
- P. b. novaeguineae of New Guinea
Novaguineae (together with yorki) is sometimes split as New Guinea Friarbird. Yorki also gets full species status sometimes as Hornbill Friarbird.
Habitat
Rainforest, woodlands and thickets.
Behaviour
Diet
Their main diet consists of nectar, fruit and seeds, supplemented with insects and insect larva, spiders and sometimes lizards.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved September 2014)
- BF Member observations
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Helmeted Friarbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 22 December 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Helmeted_Friarbird
External Links
