Hooded pitohui
| Hooded pitohui | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Oriolidae |
| Genus: | Pitohui |
| Species: | P. dichrous |
| Binomial name | |
|
Pitohui dichrous (Bonaparte, 1850) |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
|
The hooded pitohui (Pitohui dichrous) is a species of pitohui in the family Oriolidae found in New Guinea. It has black and orange plumage and both sexes have colored patches. It is one of the few known poisonous birds.
Alternate names for the hooded pitohui include the black-headed pitohui and lesser pitohui.
This species and the other pitohuis were the first documented poisonous birds other than the poisonous common quail that cause coturnism. A neurotoxin called homobatrachotoxin, found in the birds' skin and feathers, causes numbness and tingling in those touching the bird.
The hooded pitohui may acquire its poison from part of its diet, the Choresine beetles of the family Melyridae. These beetles are also a likely source of the lethal batrachotoxins found in Colombia's poison dart frogs.
Common and widespread throughout New Guinea, the hooded pitohui is evaluated as least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
...
Wikipedia