Satin Bowerbird

About the Satin Bowerbird

The satin bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) is a species of passerine bird in the bowerbird family Ptilonorhynchidae that is endemic to eastern Australia. It is the only species placed in the genus Ptilonorhynchus. The satin bowerbird was formally described in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot. He placed it with the choughs in the genus Pyrrhocorax and coined the binomial name Pyrrhocorax violaceus. Vieillot specified the type locality as "Nouvelle-Hollande" which is taken to be Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The satin bowerbird is now the only species placed in the genus Ptilonorhynchus that was introduced in 1820 by German naturalist Heinrich Kuhl. He specified the type species as Ptilonorhynchus holosericeus, which is a junior synonym of Vieillot's Pyrrhocorax violaceus. The genus name Ptilonorhynchus combines the Ancient Greek πτιλον/ptilon meaning "feather" with ῥυγχος/rhunkhos meaning "bill". The specific epithet violaceus is Latin meaning "violet-coloured".

A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2020 found that the genus Ptilonorhynchus was sister to the genus Chlamydera. Two subspecies are recognised: P. v. violaceus (Vieillot,... Wikipedia →