Philemon

Noisy friarbird Philemon corniculatus, photographed by Fir0002.

Belongs within: Meliphagidae.

The genus Philemon includes the friarbirds, medium-sized to large honeyeaters found from eastern Indonesia to Australia and New Caledonia. Members of this genus have dull plumage, and varying amounts of bare skin on the head. A knob-like structure is commonly present on top of the bill close to its base.

Characters (from Schodde & Mason 1999): Plumage mostly grey-brown; areas of bare blackish skin present on face and head; casque frequently present on bill; nares fused posteriorly; filamentous or scaly feathering present on throat; tail square; immatures with yellowish throat and white or yellow barring present on lower back and sides of breast.

<==Philemon Vieillot 1816 (see below for synonymy) B94
    |--+--P. citreogularis (Gould 1837) JT12, WS48 (see below for synonymy)
    |  |    |--P. c. citreogularis M03
    |  |    `--P. c. sordidus M03
    |  `--P. meyeri JT12
    `--+--P. eichhorni ANM14
       `--+--P. cockerelli ANM14
          `--+--P. buceroides JT12
             |    |--P. b. buceroides M03
             |    |--P. b. ammitophila M03
             |    |--P. b. gordoni M03
             |    `--P. b. yorki M03
             `--+--P. argenticeps (Gould 1839) JT12, WS48 (see below for synonymy)
                |    |--P. a. argenticeps M03
                |    `--P. a. kempi M03
                `--P. corniculatus (Latham 1790) JT12, CC10 [=Merops corniculatus CC10]
                     |--P. c. corniculatus M03
                     `--P. c. monachus M03

Philemon incertae sedis:
  P. albitorques JT12
  P. brassi JT12
  P. diemenensis JT12
  P. fuscicapillus JT12
  P. inornatus JT12
  P. kisserensis JT12
  P. lessoni [=Tropidorhynchus lessoni] S13
  P. moluccensis JT12
  P. novaeguineae JT12
  P. subcorniculatus JT12

Philemon Vieillot 1816 [incl. Philedon Cuvier 1817, Tropidorhynchus Vigors & Horsfield 1827; Philedonidae, Tropidorhynchidae] B94

Philemon argenticeps (Gould 1839) JT12, WS48 [=Tropidorhynchus argenticeps WS48; incl. P. argenticeps broomei Mathews 1912 WS48]

Philemon citreogularis (Gould 1837) JT12, WS48 [=Tropidorhynchus citreogularis WS48; incl. P. occidentalis Ramsay 1888 WS48]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[ANM14] Andersen, M. J., A. Naikatani & R. G. Moyle. 2014. A molecular phylogeny of Pacific honeyeaters (Aves: Meliphagidae) reveals extensive paraphyly and an isolated Polynesian radiation. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 71: 308–315.

[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.

[CC10] Checklist Committee (OSNZ). 2010. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica 4^th ed. Ornithological Society of New Zealand and Te Papa Press: Wellington.

[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.

[M03] Morcombe, M. 2003. Field Guide to Australian Birds 2^nd ed. Steve Parish Publishing.

[S13] Sarasin, F. 1913. Die Vögel Neu-Caledoniens und der Loyalty-Inseln. In: Sarasin, F., & J. Roux (eds) Nova Caledonia: Forschungen in Neu-Caledonian und auf den Loyalty-Inseln. A. Zoologie vol. 1 pt 1 pp. 1–78, pls 1–3. C. W. Kreidels Verlag: Wiesbaden.

Schodde, R., & I. J. Mason. 1999. The Directory of Australian Birds: Passerines. CSIRO.

[WS48] Whittell, H. M., & D. L. Serventy. 1948. A systematic list of the birds of Western Australia. Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery of Western Australia, Special Publication 1: 1–126.

Last updated: 24 July 2019.