Australian shriketit
The crested shriketit (Falcunculus frontatus ) or Australian shriketit, is a bird endemic to Australia where it inhabits open eucalypt forest and woodland. It is the only species contained within both the family Falcunculidae and the genus Falcunculus.
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withMales are larger than females in wing length, weight, and bill-size. Males have black throats, while females have olive green throats, and both sexes have bold black and white markings on the face.
The crested shriketit was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 under the binomial name Lanius frontatus. Nuclear gene sequencing suggests that the crested shriketit requires its own family, Falcunculidae (Dickinson 2003).
It feeds mainly on insects, spiders and, sometimes, particularly during the breeding season, young birds. Thistle seeds are also taken. It has a parrot-like bill, used for distinctive bark-stripping behaviour, which gains it access to invertebrates. The bird is unobtrusive, and the sound of the bark strips being torn off trees provides an indication of its presence. It nests high in a eucalyptus tree, in a fork of a branch, both sexes sharing the incubation and the rearing of the young. There may be two broods.
The eastern shriketit is evaluated as being of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the northern shriketit is considered endangered, and the western shriketit is listed as near threatened. Both the northern and western crested shriketits suffer from habitat loss and fragmentation.
