Golden Whistler

About the Golden Whistler

The Australian golden whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis) or golden whistler, is a species of passerine bird in the family Pachycephalidae. It is found in forest, woodland, mallee, mangrove and scrub in Australia (except the interior and most of the north). Most populations are resident, but some in south-eastern Australia migrate north during the winter. Its taxonomy is highly complex and remains a matter of dispute, with some authorities including as many as 59 subspecies of the golden whistler (one of the highest numbers of subspecies in any bird), while others treat several of these as separate species.

The Australian golden whistler was formally described in 1802 as Muscicapa pectoralis by the English ornithologist John Latham. The specific epithet is Latin meaning "of the breast" or "pectoral". A year earlier he had described the species under the English name, the "black-breasted flycatcher", but had not coined a binomial name. Latham gave the type locality as Nova Hollandia in Australia but this was restricted to Port Jackson, Sydney, New South Wales by Gregory Mathews in 1920. The Australian golden whistler is now placed in the genus Pachycephala that was introduced... Wikipedia →