Mohoua | |
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Whitehead (Mohoua albicilla) | |
Scientific classification
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Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Infraorder: | Corvides |
Family: |
Mohouidae Mathews, 1946 |
Genus: |
Mohoua Lesson, 1837 |
Type species | |
Certhia heteroclites
[1] = Muscicapa ochrocephala Quoy & Gaimard, 1830
|
Mohoua is a small genus of three bird species endemic to New Zealand. The scientific name is taken from mohua – the Māori name for the yellowhead. [2] Their taxonomic placement has presented problems: They have typically been placed in the whistler family, Pachycephalidae, but in 2013 it was established that they are best placed in their own family, Mohouidae. [3] A large molecular genetic study published in 2019 found that the family is sister to the family Neosittidae containing the three sittellas. [4]
All three species display some degree of sexual dimorphism in terms of size, with the males being the larger of the two sexes. [5] Mohoua are gregarious (more so outside the breeding season) and usually forage in groups. They also forage in mixed species flocks at times, frequently forming the nucleus of such flocks. [2] Social organization and behaviour is well documented for all three Mohoua species; cooperative breeding has been observed in all three species and is common in the whitehead and yellowhead. [2] The three species of this genus are the sole hosts for the long-tailed cuckoo which acts as a brood parasite upon them, pushing their eggs out of the nest and laying a single one of its own in their place so that they take no part in incubation of their eggs or in raising their young. [5]
The genus Mohoua was introduced in 1837 by the French naturalist René Lesson to accommodate a single species, the yellowhead, which is therefore the type species of the genus. [6] [7]
Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|
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Mohoua albicilla (Lesson, 1830) | Whitehead | North Island of New Zealand |
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Mohoua novaeseelandiae (Gmelin, 1789) | Pipipi or New Zealand brown creeper | South Island of New Zealand |
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Mohoua ochrocephala (Gmelin, 1789) | Yellowhead | South Island of New Zealand |
Mohoua | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Whitehead (Mohoua albicilla) | |
Scientific classification
![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Infraorder: | Corvides |
Family: |
Mohouidae Mathews, 1946 |
Genus: |
Mohoua Lesson, 1837 |
Type species | |
Certhia heteroclites
[1] = Muscicapa ochrocephala Quoy & Gaimard, 1830
|
Mohoua is a small genus of three bird species endemic to New Zealand. The scientific name is taken from mohua – the Māori name for the yellowhead. [2] Their taxonomic placement has presented problems: They have typically been placed in the whistler family, Pachycephalidae, but in 2013 it was established that they are best placed in their own family, Mohouidae. [3] A large molecular genetic study published in 2019 found that the family is sister to the family Neosittidae containing the three sittellas. [4]
All three species display some degree of sexual dimorphism in terms of size, with the males being the larger of the two sexes. [5] Mohoua are gregarious (more so outside the breeding season) and usually forage in groups. They also forage in mixed species flocks at times, frequently forming the nucleus of such flocks. [2] Social organization and behaviour is well documented for all three Mohoua species; cooperative breeding has been observed in all three species and is common in the whitehead and yellowhead. [2] The three species of this genus are the sole hosts for the long-tailed cuckoo which acts as a brood parasite upon them, pushing their eggs out of the nest and laying a single one of its own in their place so that they take no part in incubation of their eggs or in raising their young. [5]
The genus Mohoua was introduced in 1837 by the French naturalist René Lesson to accommodate a single species, the yellowhead, which is therefore the type species of the genus. [6] [7]
Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Mohoua albicilla (Lesson, 1830) | Whitehead | North Island of New Zealand |
![]() |
Mohoua novaeseelandiae (Gmelin, 1789) | Pipipi or New Zealand brown creeper | South Island of New Zealand |
![]() |
Mohoua ochrocephala (Gmelin, 1789) | Yellowhead | South Island of New Zealand |