Crested Bellbird

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Crested Bellbird
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Pachycephalidae
Genus: Oreoica
Gould, 1838
Species: O. gutturalis
Binomial name
Oreoica gutturalis
(Vigors & Horsfield, 1827)
St George, SW Queensland

The Crested Bellbird (Oreoica gutturalis) is a medium-sized bird of the family Pachycephalidae and is endemic to the mainland of Australia.[2] The aboriginal name, Panpanpanella, is reflective of its cowbell-like voice, as is its early European name, Dick-Dick-the-Devil.[3]

Description

Adults range in size from 19 cm to 23 cm in length.[4] Adult males have grey heads with a raised black crest, a white forehead and throat, and a prominent black breast, while the rest of the body is grey or brown.[5] Females and immature birds are less prominently coloured than the males, lacking the black breast and having a smaller, unraised black crest. Both males and females have orange-red eyes.[5] Similar species include wedgebills and the Western Whipbird, which female and juvenile Bellbirds resemble.[6]

Behaviour

Breeding

The Crested Bellbird forms pairs during breeding season and prepares deep cup-shaped nests made of fine sticks and twigs or bark, and lined with fine bark, fibers, or leaves.[7] Nests are prepared in various places such as forks in dead trees, hollow stumps, etc., usually below two metres in height.[7] The eggs are incubated by both sexes.[8] The breeding season is variable but usually ranges from August till December with clutch sizes ranging from one to four eggs.[9] The eggs are white or tinged with blue, and lightly blotched with dark brown and grey.[7]

An interesting aspect of the nest making process is that the bird places caterpillars of various species in and around its nest. It will nip the neck of the caterpillars to immobilise them, and it is theorised that the hairy caterpillars are either gathered as a cache of fresh food for parents and nestlings, or as a defensive barrier for their young.[7]

Feeding

Crested Bellbirds feed on invertebrates and seeds.[10] They hop rapidly, foraging on the ground or fly low between low shrubs or into low branches of trees.[7] They are usually solitary foragers but may feed in pairs during breeding season or in mixed feeding flocks with Chestnut-rumped Thornbills and Red-capped Robins.[11]

Voice

The Crested Bellbird has a distinct call. It has a high pitched bell-like call, with two slow notes then three fast notes, sounding like 'did-did-did-dit.'[12] Male birds sing from an exposed perch such as a dead branch or the top of a tree. Often duetting can be heard, where the male says 'tik-tik-tik' and the female responds with a bell like 'tonk-tonk.'[7] Although the bird keeps a low profile, as many people have never seen it, the male call can unmistakably be heard from over half a kilometre away.[13] Another aspect of the Bellbird's call is its ventriloquial quality.[14] This can make it very hard to identify the location of the alling bird as at first it can sound as if the call was coming from a few metres to the left, then to the right, and then from behind.

Distribution and habitat

The bird's habitat is usually found throughout the semi-arid coastlines and towards the drier interior areas of Australia, particularly in areas dominated by acacia scrublands, eucalypt woodlands, spinifex and chenopod (saltbush) plains or dunes.[15] The species is sedentary or locally nomadic and is distributed throughout most of the continent including; towards the west of the Great Dividing Range, in the south of tropical northern Australia, and through South Australia to the west coast of Western Australia.[16] The Bellbird avoids the far north and the humid eastern and extreme south-western regions.[3] The species is listed as threatened in Victoria, as it has disappeared from well over half of its historical range.[17]

Status and conservation

The range of the Crested Bellbird has been contracted due to habitat destruction from land clearance, as this species is particularly susceptible to fragmentation.[18]

Crested Bellbirds are not listed as threatened on the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. However, their conservation status varies from state to state within Australia. For example:

  • The Crested Bellbird is listed as threatened on the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act (1988).[19] Under this Act, an Action Statement for the recovery and future management of this species has not yet been prepared.[20]
  • On the 2007 advisory list of threatened vertebrate fauna in Victoria, the Crested Bellbird is listed as near threatened.[21]

References

Notes

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Oreoica gutturalis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013. 
  2. ↑ Christidis 2008, p.35.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Encyclopedia of Australian wildlife 1997, p.256.
  4. ↑ "Australian Museum," n.d. para. 4.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Birdlife," n.d. para. 2.
  6. ↑ "Australian Museum," n.d. para. 5.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Macdonald 1978, p.383.
  8. ↑ "Birds in Backyard," n.d. para. 7.
  9. ↑ "Australian Museum," n.d. para. 11.
  10. ↑ "Australian Museum," n.d. para. 9.
  11. ↑ "Birds in Backyard," n.d. para. 6.
  12. ↑ "Australian Museum," n.d. para. 10.
  13. ↑ Chapman n.d. para. 2.
  14. ↑ "Birdlife," n.d. para. 1.
  15. ↑ "Birdlife," n.d. para. 5.
  16. ↑ "Birds in Backyard," n.d. para. 3.
  17. ↑ Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria.
  18. ↑ "Birds in Backyard," n.d. para. 8.
  19. ↑ Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria
  20. ↑ Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria
  21. ↑ Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment (2007). Advisory List of Threatened Vertebrate Fauna in Victoria - 2007. East Melbourne, Victoria: Department of Sustainability and Environment. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-74208-039-0. 

Sources

  • BirdLife International (2012). "Oreoica gutturalis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  • Chapman, G. (n.d.). Crested Bellbird - Australian Birds - photographs by Graeme Chapman. Crested Bellbird - Australian Birds - photographs by Graeme Chapman. Retrieved October 23, 2013, from http://www.graemechapman.com.au/library/viewphotos.php?c=10
  • Christidis, L., & Boles, W. (2008).Systematics and taxonomy of Australian birds. Collingwood, Vic.: CSIRO Pub.
  • Crested Bellbird - Australian Museum. (n.d.). Crested Bellbird - Australian Museum. Retrieved October 23, 2013, from http://australianmuseum.net.au/Crested-Bellbird/
  • Crested Bellbird. (n.d.). Home | BirdLife. Retrieved October 23, 2013, from http://www.birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/crested-bellbird.
  • Crested Bellbird. (n.d.). Welcome to Birds in Backyards. Retrieved October 23, 2013, from http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Oreoica-gutturalis.
  • Del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Christie D. (editors). (2007). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-84-96553-42-2
  • Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria
  • Encyclopedia of Australian wildlife. (1997). Sydney: Reader's Digest.
  • Macdonald, J. (1978). Birds of Australia: a summary of information ; illustrated by Peter Slater. (Rev. ed.). Sydney, NSW: Reed.
  • Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment (2007). Advisory List of Threatened Vertebrate Fauna in Victoria - 2007. East Melbourne, Victoria: Department of Sustainability and Environment. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-74208-039-0.
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