Melampitta
Encyclopedia
Melampitta is a genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

n bird containing two enigmatic species. These are birds with black plumage that live in remote rainforests. They are little studied and even their taxonomic relationships with other birds are uncertain.

Taxonomy

The taxonomic placement of the genus is a source of long-standing confusion. The superficial resemblance to the pittas
Pitta (bird)
Pittas are a family, Pittidae, of passerine birds mainly found in tropical Asia and Australasia, although a couple of species live in Africa. Pittas are all similar in general structure and habits, and have often been placed in a single genus, although as of 2009 they are now split into three...

 meant that the two species were originally placed within that family. The name of the genus literally means "black pitta". As the structure of the syrinx
Syrinx
In classical mythology, Syrinx was a nymph and a follower of Artemis, known for her chastity. Pursued by the amorous Greek god Pan, she ran to the river's edge and asked for assistance from the river nymphs. In answer, she was transformed into hollow water reeds that made a haunting sound when...

 was that of an oscine bird the genus was later moved to the Old World babbler
Old World babbler
The Old World babblers or timaliids are a large family of mostly Old World passerine birds. They are rather diverse in size and coloration, but are characterised by soft fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian Subcontinent...

s (an infamous "taxonomic dustbin"), then to Orthonychidae
Orthonychidae
The Orthonychidae is a family of birds with a single genus, Orthonyx, which comprises three species of passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea, the Logrunners and the Chowchilla. Some authorities consider the Australian family Cinclosomatidae to be part of the Orthonychidae...

 (where some authorities still retain them) and then to the jewel-babblers and whipbirds (the treatment currently used by the Handbook of the Birds of the World
Handbook of the Birds of the World
The Handbook of the Birds of the World is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. The series is edited by Josep del Hoyo, Andrew Elliott, Jordi Sargatal and David A Christie.So far, 15...

). Based on the analysis of DNA-DNA hybridisation data the genus was placed with the Paradisaeidae birds of paradise by Sibley and Ahlquist, although these conclusions are not supported by aspects of the behaviour and biology (although they are possibly related to the recently split Cnemophilidae
Cnemophilidae
The Satinbirds or Cnemophilines, Cnemophilidae are a group of passerine birds which consists of three species found in the mountain forests of New Guinea...

 birds of paradise). More recent studies have suggested a relationship with the Corcoracidae
Corcoracidae
The Australian mudnesters are passerine family Struthideidae. The family is often commonly called Corcoracidae, however this is the junior synonym. It contains just two species in two genera, the White-winged Chough, Corcorax melanorhamphos, and the Apostlebird Struthidea cinerea...

 (the White-winged Chough
White-winged Chough
The White-winged Chough is one of only two surviving members of the Australian mud-nest builders family, Corcoracidae, and is the only member of the genus Corcorax...

 and Apostlebird
Apostlebird
The Apostlebird , also known as the Grey Jumper, is a quick-moving, gray or black bird about 13 inches long. It is a native to Australia where it roams woodlands, eating insects and seeds at, or near, ground level...

 of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

). It has been suggested that the genus could be afforded its own family. Most authors accept that the both species are congeneric (are both in the same genus), although the two species do have a number of differences, particularly morphologically. The Lesser Melanpitta has three subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 whereas the Greater Melanpitta is monotypic.

Description

The two melampittas are pitta-like birds that have entirely black plumage
Plumage
Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...

 and strong long legs. The feathers of the forecrown are erectile. The Lesser Melampitta
Lesser Melampitta
The Lesser Melampitta, Melampitta lugubris, is a medium-sized enigmatic terrestrial songbird of mountain forests of New Guinea. It is now classify as a member of the family Orthonychidae by Birdlife International, but in some other sources it is variously considered close to or in the...

 is around 18 cm long and weighs around 30 g, whereas the Greater Melampitta
Greater Melampitta
The Greater Melampitta is a species of bird in the Orthonychidae family. Formerly classified as a bird of paradise, the little-known Greater Melampitta has an uncertain taxonomy and is sometimes believed to be affiliated to Pitohuis, as it appears to be poisonous to eat .It is found in West Papua,...

 is larger and considerably heavier at around 29 cm in length and weighs 205 g. The bill
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...

 of the Greater Melanpitta is also larger than that of the Lesser Melanpitta. It also has specially strengthened remiges and retriges, a possible adaptation to its habit of roosting in limestone caves. The sexes in both species are almost identical, with the only sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...

 being a difference in iris colour in the Lesser Melampitta, the male having a red iris and the female a brown one.

Habitat and behaviour

The melampittas are birds of the New Guinean rainforest and are generally montane species as well, with the range of the Lesser Melampitta reaching as high as 3500 m, with a usual range of around 2000–2800 m. The Greater Melampitta is restricted to areas of rugged limestone that it apparently roosts and even nests in. Both species have a discontinuous distribution across New Guinea, and the Greater Melampitta is generally a rare bird that is seldom encountered, although this may because it lives in seldom visited areas. Like most of its supposed relatives the melampittas are insectivores (although in the case of the Greater Melampitta this is mostly inference). The Lesser Melampitta feeds on insects as well as worms, snails, small frogs and even small fruit. It forages on the ground, probing through leaves by flipping them with its bill.

Breeding

The breeding behaviour of the melampittas is only known in any detail for the Lesser Melampitta. All that is known of the breeding of the Greater Melampitta are reports from local people that it creates nests
Bird nest
A bird nest is the spot in which a bird lays and incubates its eggs and raises its young. Although the term popularly refers to a specific structure made by the bird itself—such as the grassy cup nest of the American Robin or Eurasian Blackbird, or the elaborately woven hanging nest of the...

 that are baskets of vines suspended in the limestone sinkholes that it roosts in. The Lesser Melampitta is known to start nesting in the dry season and continue into the beginning of the wet. The nest is a closed dome shape constructed out of live green moss. The female lays a single chalky white and slightly speckled egg, and undertakes all the incubation duties
Avian incubation
Incubation refers to the process by which certain oviparous animals hatch their eggs, and to the development of the embryo within the egg. The most vital factor of incubation is the constant temperature required for its development over a specific period. Especially in domestic fowl, the act of...

. The incubation is quite long for a small passerine, lasting around 27 days, during which the male will feed the female. Both sexes feed the single chick, which is hatched covered in downy feathers. Unlike their supposed relatives in the birds of paradise family, which feed their chicks by regurgitation, the parents feed the chick whole food that has not been swallowed. The chick takes up to 35 days to fledge
Fledge
Fledge is the stage in a young bird's life when the feathers and wing muscles are sufficiently developed for flight. It also describes the act of a chick's parents raising it to a fully grown state...

, a long time for passerines.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK