Pitohui cerviniventris
The Raja Ampat Pitohui (Pitohui cerviniventris) is a medium-sized passerine, typically measuring 22-25 cm (8.7-9.8 inches) in length and weighing around 50-70 grams. Its most striking feature is a glossy black hood covering the head, throat, and upper breast, which sharply contrasts with its rufous-chestnut lower breast, belly, and flanks. The back, wings, and tail are also glossy black, sometimes exhibiting a subtle bluish sheen; its bill and legs are black, and its eyes are dark. Key field ...
This species primarily inhabits lowland and hill forests, including primary, secondary, and disturbed forest patches, often found near coastal areas up to approximately 1000 meters (3,300 feet) in elevation.
Primarily insectivorous, the Raja Ampat Pitohui consumes various beetles, ants, and other arthropods, supplementing its diet with fruits and seeds, foraging mainly by gleaning.
Active during daylight hours, the Raja Ampat Pitohui is a diurnal bird that typically forages from dawn to dusk, roosting communally or solitarily within dense forest foliage. It employs an active foraging strategy, gleaning insects and fruit from the leaves and bark in the subcanopy and mid-stor...
This species is endemic to the Raja Ampat Islands, an archipelago situated off the western tip of New Guinea in West Papua, Indonesia. Its distribution is strictly limited to the larger islands within this group, prominently including Waigeo, Batanta, Salawati, and Misool, as well as a scattering...
Least Concern
- The Raja Ampat Pitohui is one of the world's few known poisonous birds, carrying batrachotoxins in its skin and feathers. - Its toxicity is not self-produced but acquired through its diet, likely from specific species of beetles found in its forest habitat. - Handling the bird can cause skin ir...