| Lord Howe Golden Whistler | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Pachycephalidae |
| Genus: | Pachycephala |
| Species: | P. pectoralis |
| Subspecies: | P. p. contempta |
| Trinomial name | |
| Pachycephala pectoralis contempta Hartert, 1898 |
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The Lord Howe Golden Whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis contempta), also known as the Lord Howe Whistler or Lord Howe Island Golden Whistler, and locally as the “Robin” or “Yellow Robin”, is a small bird in the whistler family, Pachycephalidae. It is a subspecies of the Australian Golden Whistler ( Pachycephala pectoralis) that is endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, part of New South Wales, Australia.
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Males are similar to those of the nominate subspecies, though with a broader yellow collar. Females differ slightly in having their primary and secondary feathers distinctly washed with cinnamon-brown, a yellowish-grey belly and pale-yellow under-tail coverts.[1][2][3]
The whistler is restricted to Lord Howe Island, where it widely distributed through the native subtropical rainforest, as well as in remnant native vegetation on roadsides in settled areas.[4][5]
The whistler breeds from September to January. It builds an open cup-shaped nest of palm fibres and vine tendrils, lined with grass, in which it lays a clutch of two eggs.[6][7]
The whistlers eat spiders, insects and insect larvae, foraging through tree branches as well as on the ground in leaf litter.[8]
The population of the Lord Howe Golden Whistler has been estimated at about 2,000 breeding birds and stable. It has been listed as Vulnerable by the Australian Government because of its small distribution.[9] It is not listed anymore.[10]