Mohoua

Mohoua
Mohoua
Whitehead
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Pachycephalidae
Genus: Mohoua
Lesson 1837

Mohoua is a small genus of three bird species endemic to New Zealand. The Latin genus name is taken from either mohuahua or momohua - both Māori names for the Yellowhead.[1] All three species display some degree of sexual dimorphism in terms of size, with the males being the larger of the two sexes.[2] Mohoua are gregarious (more so outside the breeding season) and usually forage in groups . They also forage in mixed species flocks at times, frequently forming the nucleus of such flocks.[1] Unlike most species within Pachycephalidae, social organization and behaviour is well documented for all three Mohoua species; Cooperative breeding has been observed in all three species and is common in the Whitehead and Yellowhead.[1] The three species of this genus are the sole hosts for the Long-tailed Cuckoo which acts as a Brood parasite upon them, pushing their eggs out of the nest and laying a single one of its own in their place so that they take no part in incubation of their eggs or in raising their young.[2]

Species


References

  1. ^ a b c "Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds"; Volume 7, edited by Peter Higgins, OUP, 2000
  2. ^ a b Barrie Heather and Hugh Robertson, "The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand" (revised edition), Viking, 2005


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