| Blue-capped Ifrita | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Cinclosomatidae |
| Genus: | Ifrita Rothschild, 1898 |
| Species: | I. kowaldi |
| Binomial name | |
| Ifrita kowaldi (De Vis, 1890) |
|
The Blue-capped Ifrita (Ifrita kowaldi), also known as the Ifrit, is a small insectivorous bird endemic to the rainforests of New Guinea. It measures up to 16.5 cm long and has yellowish brown plumage with a blue and black crown. The male has a white streak behind its eye, while the female's is a dull yellow. It creeps on trunks and branches in search of insects.
The Blue-capped Ifrita is placed as the only member of the genus Ifrita, which is itself placed in the family Cinclosomatidae. This enigmatic bird is one of only three bird genera known to have poisonous members, the others being the genus Pitohui - also from New Guinea, and the Little Shrike-thrush (Colluricincla).
The Blue-capped Ifrita, like the Hooded Pitohui, sequesters batrachotoxin in its skin and feathers, which causes numbness and tingling to those who handle the bird. The toxin is acquired from part of its diet, specifically Choresine spp. beetles.[2]
Widespread and common throughout its large range, the Blue-capped Ifrita is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
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