Spotted catbird

The spotted catbird (Ailuroedus maculosus) is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found in north Queensland in Australia, the eastern Moluccas and New Guinea.Higgins, P.J., Peter, J.M. and Cowling, S.J. 2006. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Vol. 7: Boatbill to Starlings. – Oxford Univ. Press. Although it is a member of the bowerbird family, it does not build a bower.

Widespread and common throughout its large range, the spotted catbird is evaluated as Least Concern on IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is a chunky rainforest bird with emerald green upperparts, a black spot below the dark red eye, and green-olive underparts with extensive pale spotting. It inhabits the Wet Tropics of Queensland (Cairns region), and thus does not overlap with similar green catbird.

Taxonomy

The spotted catbird is one of ten species in the genus Ailuroedus, the non bower-building bowerbirds. The noticeable difference between the two Australian dwelling species is the lack of black ear-coverts and reduction in dorsal spotting on A. cassirostris.Ford, J. 1977. Taxonomic status of the spotted catbird on Cape York Peninsula – Sunbird 8: 61-64. Molecular evidence suggests Ailuroedus is a sister group to the other bowerbirds, diverging into the only genus within the eight species of Australian bowerbirds that is monogamous and does not build a bower or clear a court for mating.Borgia, G. 1995. Why do dowerbirds build bowers? – Am. Sci. 83:542-547Kusmierski, R., Borgia, G., Crozier, R.H. and Chan, B.H.Y. 1993. Molecular information on bowerbird phylogeny and the evolution of exaggerated make characteristics – J. Evol. Biol. 6: 737-752 The other bowerbirds are polygynous and make various forms of bowers or create stages for mating.Christidis, L. and Schodde, R. 1992. Relationships among the Birds-of-Paradise (Paradisaeidae) and Bowerbirds (Ptilonorhyncidae): protein evidence – Aust. J. Zool. 40: 343-353 One study revealed the catbirds have a smaller brain for their body size compared to the bower-building species.Madden, J. 2001. Sex, bowers and brains – Proceedings: Biological Sciences. 268: 833-838 Until 2016, A. maculosus was considered a subspecies of either A. melanotis, then also named the spotted catbird, or as a subspecies of A. crassirostris (green catbird).

Habitat

The spotted catbird is an Australo-Papuan species. It can be found in tropical rainforest and is locally common in its range. Within Australia it has two isolated populations, both located in far north Queensland. One group occurs on Cape York and the other further south in the wet tropics region. The tropical forests of the Bellenden Ker range and adjoining scrub area from Cardwell to Cooktown may be the species "headquarters".Miller, R. S. 1937. The Spotted Catbird – Emu. 37: 73-76 Spotted catbirds are a highly specialized rainforest species and in the Australian wet tropics they prefer to nest in well vegetated areas with steep creek slopes and also in forests with Calamus tangles and will nest in the same location year after year.Frith, C. B. and Frith, D.W. 2001. Nesting biology of te spotted catbird, Ailuroedus melanotis, a monogamous bowerbird (Ptilonorhyncidae), in Australian Wet Tropics upland rainforests – Aust. J. Zool. 49: 279-310.Freeman, A. N. D., Freeman, A. B. and Burchill, S. 2009. Bird use of revegetated sites along a creek connecting rainforest remnants – Emu. 109: 331-338. They have a home range of 1-2 hectares and forage about 68 m from their nests.

Habitat threats

Destruction of their rainforest habitat and rising temperatures could pose a threat to the spotted catbird.Williams, S.E., Shoo, L.P., Henriod, R. and Pearson, R. G. 2010. Elevational gradients in species abundance, assemblage structure and energy use of rainforest birds in the Australian Wet Tropics bioregion – Austral Ecol. 35: 650-664. There have been attempts at revegetation on the Atherton Tablelands in north Queensland. This has resulted in habitat heterogeneity. These attempts may not be helpful to the habitat specific species.Johnson, D.D.P. and Mighell, J.S. 1999. Dry-season bird diversity in tropical rainforest and surrounding habitats in north-east Australia – Emu. 99: 108-120 This rainforest fragmentation creates corridors in the attempt to provide habitat for rainforest birds. These corridors are subject to edge effects and go unused by the specialized rainforest species.Jansen, A. 2005. Avian use of restoration planting a along a creek lining rainforest patches on the Atherton tablelands, North Queensland – Restor. Ecol. 13: 275-283. However, they have been regularly detected in well-established rainforest regrowth in Australia.Laurance, W.F., Gordon, C.E. and Perry, E. 1996. Structure of breeding communities in rainforest and regrowth forest in tropical Queensland. – Sunbird 26: 1-15.

Description

Spotted catbirds are 26–30 cm. Males weigh 180g and females weigh 168g. Adults have a large, dusky colored head with a blackish cap and black ear-patch. They have mostly bright-green upperparts with heavy olive chevrons and white streaking on the underbody.Simpson, K. and Day, N. 2010. Field Guide to the Birds of Australia (8th ed.). – Penguin. They have slim white wing bars and a white-tipped green tail. The eye is red and it has a stout, cream colored beak. The legs and feet are dark to bluish grey. Males and females have similar plumage.Endler, J.A. 2007. Colorful thoughts about colorful displays – Evolution. 61: 713-715. Their coloring differs from other bowerbirds which have a plumage color pattern consisting of a mixture of two colors of various proportions.Endler, J. A., Westcott, D.A., Madden, J.R. and Robson, T. 2005. Animal visual systems and the evolution of color patterns: sensory processing illuminates signal evolution. Evolution. 59: 1795-1818. The cryptic plumage coloring of the catbird aids in parental care by helping the catbird blend into its surroundings allowing males and females to tend to the nestlings.Diamond, J. 1986. Biology of birds of paradise and bowerbirds – Annu. Rev. of Eco.and Syst. 17: 17-37. It may also allow spotted catbirds to spend more time foraging as they blend into the surrounding foliage.Pratt, T.K. and Stiles, E. W. 1983. How long fruit-eating birds stay in the plants where they feed: Implications for seed dispersal – Am. Nat. 122: 797-805. Their voice is described as loud with cat-like wailing. They produce a nasal "here-I-arr" call with sharp clicks and three loud cries. They can be heard calling all times of the day especially at dawn and dusk and call more frequently on during cooler temperatures with dewy mornings and after rain.Miller, R. S. 1937. The Spotted Catbird – Emu. 37: 73-76.

Behavior

The following notes were made in regard to the spotted catbird's curious personality, "On entering a scrub from the roadside one may hear a Catbird call perhaps a hundred yards away. The bird will probably call several times in the next few minutes, advancing nearer and each time, until, at last, the bird will be seen arriving on a branch close to the intruder, where it will continue its harah calling at intervals, whilst watching closely its human neighbour. In all probability after a short interval the bird’s mate will arrive in answer to the calls of the first bird." They exhibit arboreal displays similar to other passerines.Marshall, A.J. 1954. Bower-birds – Biol. Rev. 29: 1-45.

Diet

The spotted catbird is mainly frugivorous.Diamond, J. 1987. Flocks of Brown and Black New Guinean Birds: A Bicoloured Mixed-species Foraging Association – Emu. 87: 201-211. They have been seen foraging at varying altitudinal levels.Boles, W.E. and Lonngmore, N.W. 1989. Altitudinal distribution of birds of Thornton Peak, north Queensland. – Sunbird 19:1-15. They often forage on the ground and use their strong feet and powerful bills to eat small, structurally-unprotected fruit under 10mm in diameter. They also eat large, structurally-unprotected fruit between 13-21mm in diameter.Pratt, T.K. and Stiles, E. W. 1985. The influence of fruit size and structure on composition of frugivore assemblages in New Guinea – Biotropica. 17: 314-321. Their bright green plumage may prevent them from joining foraging flocks of brown and black colored birds in the rainforest. In one observation from Cooktown, Australia, a lady stated that spotted catbirds become very bold during cumquat season and were observed feeding alongside honeyeaters on mandarins in a nearby site.Hopkins, N. 1972. Some bird observations from the Cooktown district – Sunbird 3: 1-5. They eat the seeds of palms, wild figs, berries from the stinging tree and all kinds of soft fruit. Spotted catbirds will also eat beetles and insects as well as new buds and shoots of ferns. The adults and nestlings have also been observed feeding on cicadas with parents and adults feeding cicadas to nestlings.Frith, C.B. 1995. Cicadas (Insecta: Cicadidae) as prey of regent bowerbirds Sericulus Chrysocephalus and other bowerbird species (Ptilonorhyncidae) – Sunbird 25: 44-48. Spotted catbirds have also been photographed attacking nests on the ground and have even been observed feeding nestlings taken from nests to their young.Laurance, W.F. and Grant, J.D. 1994. Photographic identification of ground-nest predators in Australian tropical rainforest – Wildlife Res. 21: 241-247. In one study, the imprints from the bill closely resembled the marks on dummy eggs in 87.9% of the 66 nests depredated by birds.Hausmann, F., Catterall, C.P. and Piper, S.D. 2005. Effects of edge habitat and nest characteristics on depredation of artificial nests in fragmented Australian tropical rainforest – Biodivers. Conserv. 14: 2331-2345. Spotted catbirds are also known to eat birds that have become trapped in mist-nets. Nestlings are also fed severed heads and other parts of fruit dove squabs. It has also been suggested that catbirds eat small, soft-shelled snails.Bock, W.J. 1963. Relationships between the birds of paradise and the bowerbirds – Condor. 16: 91-125.

Reproduction

Mating The Ailuroedus genus of the bowerbird family consists of monogamous pairs that do not build a bower. The males and females both defend an all-purpose territory. Spotted catbirds form pair bonds, some which are known to last for more than one breeding season and it is believed that this monogamy results from the need for two parents to raise the brood successfully. During courtship the pair excitedly hop around perches in trees and the male makes sharp tic notes until the female sits still. The male then hops around the female between two perches usually with food in his beak. There has been one observation of catbirds mating in captivity which Firth describes, "He held some food in his bill, drew close to the female and stretched his head and neck up vertically to full extent while looking at her so that the somewhat erected feathers of the neck appeared sparse. He directly mounted the crouching female for a few seconds and the two birds then flew together directly to the ground, the male still holding the food in his bill. Once on the ground the male passed the food to the female, who took and swallowed it. Both birds then flew off together.Frith, C. B. 1980. Copulation by the Green Catbird Ailuroedus cassirostris – Emu. 80: 39-39. The breeding season is from August to March.

Nest