Saddleback (bird)

Genus of birds

"Tieke" redirects here. For other uses, see Tieke (disambiguation) and Saddleback (disambiguation).

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Saddleback" bird – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

Saddleback

North Island saddleback (Philesturnus rufusater)
Scientific classification
Domain:  | Eukaryota
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Chordata
Class:  | Aves
Order:  | Passeriformes
Family:  | Callaeidae
Genus:  | Philesturnus
I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1832
Type species
Sturnus carunculatus

Gmelin, 1789

Species

P. rufusater
P. carunculatus

The saddlebacks or tīeke (Māori) are two species of New Zealand birds of the family Callaeidae. Both are glossy black with a chestnut saddle. Their taxonomic family is also known as that of the (New Zealand) "wattlebirds" and includes the two species of kōkako, and the extinct huia. All members of the family Callaeidae have coloured fleshy wattles on either side of the beak; the saddlebacks' are a vivid red.

## Taxonomy

[edit]

North Island saddleback with neck arched, showing wattles

The genus Philesturnus was introduced in 1832 by the French zoologist Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire to accommodate a single species, the South Island saddleback, which is therefore the type species of the genus.[1][2] The name combines the honeyeater genus Philedon and the starling genus Sturnus.[3]

The saddleback's common name derives from the demarcated brown plumage on its back, which resembles a saddle. The Māori name, tīeke, is onomatopoeic and comes from one of the species' calls: "ti-e-ke-ke-ke-ke".

There are two species:[4]

* North Island saddleback – Philesturnus rufusater
* South Island saddleback – Philesturnus carunculatus

The saddlebacks appear to be a remnant of an early expansion of passerines in New Zealand, and are two of five New Zealand wattlebirds of the family Callaeidae, the others being the extinct huia, the endangered North Island kōkako, and the possibly extinct South Island kōkako. New Zealand wattlebirds have only one close relative: the stitchbird.[5]

## Behaviour

[edit]

Saddleback looking for insects

Saddlebacks are larger than other arboreal insectivorous birds in New Zealand forests. They measure as much as 25 cm (10 in) in length and can weigh up to 75 grams (somewhat larger than a common blackbird). They will tear pieces of bark from tree trunks to find insects beneath, which are then dispatched and consumed with their short, robust, and unusually strong beaks. They will also feed on the ground in leaf litter. However, their diet is not strictly insectivorous: they have been observed eating fruit and drinking nectar. Like their close relative the kōkako, saddlebacks are poor fliers and mostly bound from branch to branch, but can fly short distances.

Territorial birds, the saddlebacks display antagonistic behaviour in this regard on three levels of intensity, singing out at dawn to mark their territory, making threat displays, which can include head bobbing, tail fanning, and warbling (during which the wattles dilate). When a direct challenge is made to a bird's territory, fights can occur in which combatants attempt to grapple with the wattles of their foe. Saddlebacks are notoriously fearless and noisy, and frequently enchanted 19th-century European naturalists with their behaviour.

Saddlebacks nest in epiphytes, in tree-fern crowns, and in holes in tree trunks. They have a tendency to nest near the ground, and their fledglings will leave the nest to hop around in a typically noisy fashion while they build wing strength.

## Saddlebacks and people

[edit]

### Place in Māori culture

[edit]

Saddlebacks traditionally held a strong place in Māori belief systems: their cries were viewed as good omens when they came from the right, and bad omens if from the left. Their cheeky nature is reflected in the Māori legend that tells of how the birds acquired its distinctive chestnut coloured saddle. Fresh from his battle to ensnare the sun, a thirsty Māui (a virtual demi-god in Māori folklore) asked the tīeke to bring him some water. The bird rudely pretended not to hear his request, at which Māui, becoming angry, seized it with his still fiery hand, leaving a brown scorch mark across its back.

### Decline, present day conservation and recovery

[edit]

Their breeding behaviour (nesting near the ground and fledglings hopping noisily around on the ground) make them especially vulnerable to predation from introduced mammals, including mustelids, brown rats and ship rats. This resulted in both species swiftly disappearing from the New Zealand mainland. By the beginning of the 20th century, both species were confined to a respective island; in the far north, Hen Island off Northland, and in the far south, Taukihepa / Big South Cape Island off Stewart Island / Rakiura.

Rats arrived on Big South Cape Island in 1963, accidentally introduced as they escaped from the boats of visiting muttonbirders. A swift rescue operation by the New Zealand Wildlife Service (now the Department of Conservation) barely saved the species from extinction, while the rats' predation soon condemned to extinction the local populations of the South Island snipe, bush wren and greater short-tailed bat.

Saddleback have since been relocated to island nature reserves around New Zealand, and also to mainland fenced sanctuaries. Since roughly 2015, sporadic sightings and evidence of breeding has been confirmed in Polhill Reserve, which neighbours the fenced Zealandia wildlife sanctuary. These have been the first sightings on New Zealand's un-fenced mainland since the bird was declared extinct on the mainland in 1910.[6]

The recovery of the saddleback is considered by many to be one of New Zealand's greatest conservation success stories.

## Gallery

[edit]

* Adult in front, young of South Island species at rear (from Walter Buller's Birds of New Zealand)

* Feeding from a flax flower

* A South Island saddleback on Ulva Island (a sanctuary off Stewart Island), where a sizable population is maintained

* Illustration of a saddleback nest

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Isidore (1832). "Considérations sur les caractères employés en ornithologie pour la distinction des genres, des familles et des ordres, et détermination de plusieurs genres nouveaux". Nouvelles Annales du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle (in French). 1: 390–392.
2. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1962). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 15\. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 158.
3. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 302\. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
4. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2023). "Australasian babblers, logrunners, satinbirds, berrypeckers, wattlebirds, whipbirds, jewel-babblers, quail-thrushes". IOC World Bird List Version 13.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
5. ^ Ewen, John G; Flux, Ian; Ericson, Per GP (2006). "Systematic affinities of two enigmatic New Zealand passerines of high conservation priority, the hihi or stitchbird Notiomystis cincta and the kokako Callaeas cinerea (fulltext)" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 40 (1): 281–84\. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.01.026. PMID 16527495. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
6. ^ Wannan, Olivia (28 December 2015). "Saddleback youngster spotted outside Zealandia". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 5 February 2018.

* BirdLife Species Factsheet
* John Dawson, Rob Lucas, Nature guide to the New Zealand forest. Godwit, 2000.
* Rod Morris and Hal Smith, Wild South: Saving New Zealand's endangered birds. Random House NZ, 1995.
* Chloe Talbot-Kelly, Collins handguide to the birds of New Zealand. Collins, 1982.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Philesturnus carunculatus.

* Saddleback/tīeke – Department of Conservation
* Information page – TerraNature
* Information page – Zealandia

* v
* t
* e

New Zealand wattlebirds (family: Callaeidae)

Genus|

Species (the three genera are monotypic)

Callaeas|

* North Island kokako
* South Island kokako

Philesturnus|

* North Island saddleback
* South Island saddleback

Heteralocha|

* Huia (extinct 1907)

* Deforestation in New Zealand
* Invasive species in New Zealand
* Biodiversity of New Zealand
* Birds of New Zealand

* v
* t
* e

Birds of New Zealand

Common
birds|

* Bellbird (korimako)
* Black-billed gull (tarāpuka)
* Brown creeper (pipipi)
* Brown teal (pāteke)
* Buff-banded rail (moho-pererū)
* Dabchick (weweia)
* Double-banded plover (pohowera)
* New Zealand falcon (kārearea)
* Fantail (pīwakawaka)
* Grey warbler (riroriro)
* Grey-faced petrel (ōi)
* Sacred kingfisher (kōtare)
* Long-tailed cuckoo (koekoeā)
* Kererū
* Pipit (pīhoihoi)
* New Zealand dotterel (tūturiwhatu)
* South Island robin
* North Island robin
* New Zealand scaup (pāpango)
* Paradise shelduck (pūtangitangi)
* Pūkeko
* Rifleman (tītipounamu)
* New Zealand rock wren (pīwauwau)
* Shining cuckoo (pīpīwharauroa)
* Silvereye (tauhou)
* South Island oystercatcher (tōrea)
* Spotted shag (pārekareka)
* Tomtit (miromiro)
* Tūī
* Variable oystercatcher (tōrea pango)
* White-fronted tern (tara)
* Whitehead (pōpokotea)
* Wrybill (ngutuparore)

Flightless
birds|

* Great spotted kiwi (roroa)
* Little spotted kiwi (kiwi pukupuku)
* North Island brown kiwi (roroa)
* Okarito kiwi (rowi)
* Southern brown kiwi (tokoeka)
* Yellow-eyed penguin (hoiho)
* Kākāpō
* South Island takahē
* Fiordland penguin (tawaki)
* Weka
* Blue penguin (kororā)

Endangered
endemic birds
(flying)|

* Black-fronted tern (tarapiroe)
* Black stilt (kakī)
* Blue duck (whio)
* Fernbird (mātātā)
* Foveaux shag
* Kākā
* Kea
* North Island kōkako
* South Island kōkako
* New Zealand fairy tern (tara-iti)
* New Zealand king shag (kawau tūī)
* New Zealand storm petrel (takahikare)
* Northern royal albatross
* Otago shag (Matapo)
* Orange-fronted parakeet (kākāriki karaka)
* Red-billed gull (tarāpunga)
* North Island saddleback (tīeke)
* South Island saddleback (tīeke)
* Shore plover (tūturuatu)
* Stitchbird (hihi)
* Yellowhead (mōhua)

Chatham Islands
birds|

* Black robin (karure)
* Chatham albatross (toroa)
* Chatham gerygone
* Chatham oystercatcher (tōrea)
* Chatham parakeet
* Chatham petrel (ranguru)
* Chatham pigeon (parea)
* Chatham shag (papua)
* Chatham snipe
* Magenta petrel (tāiko)
* Pitt shag (kawau o rangihaute)

Subantarctic islands
birds|

* Antipodean albatross (Toroa)
* Auckland rail
* Auckland shag
* Auckland teal (tētē kākāriki)
* Antipodes parakeet
* Bounty shag
* Campbell albatross
* Campbell shag
* Campbell teal
* Erect-crested penguin (tawaki nana hī)
* Reischek's parakeet
* Snares snipe
* Snares penguin (pokotiwha)
* Subantarctic snipe (tutukiwi)

Extinct
birds|

* South Island piopio (piopio)
* New Zealand bittern (kaoriki)
* New Zealand quail (koreke)
* Huia
* Haast's eagle
* Moa
* North Island adzebill
* South Island adzebill
* Auckland Island merganser (rakiraki maungahuka)
* Chatham Island merganser
* Bushwren (mātuhituhi)
* Long-billed wren
* South Island stout-legged wren
* North Island stout-legged wren
* Lyall's wren
* Chatham kākā
* Laughing owl (whēkau)
* Chatham penguin
* Waitaha penguin
* Eyles' harrier (kērangi)
* North Island little spotted kiwi
* North Island snipe
* South Island snipe
* Forbes's snipe
* Snipe-rail
* Imber's petrel
* Scarlett's shearwater (ōiruki)
* North Island takahē (moho)
* New Zealand goose
* Finsch's duck (manutahora)
* New Zealand owlet-nightjar (ruru hinapō)
* New Zealand musk duck
* New Zealand swan (poūwa)

* v
* t
* e

Genera of passerines and their extinct allies

* Kingdom: Animalia
* Phylum: Chordata
* Class: Aves
* Clade: Psittacopasseres
* Order: Passeriformes

Passeriformes

| incertae sedis|

* †Corvitalusoides
* †Jamna
* †Winnicavis
* †Yunnanus

|

Acanthisitti|

| Acanthisittidae|

* Acanthisitta
* †Dendroscansor
* †Kuiornis
* †Pachyplichas
* †Traversia
* Xenicus

|

Eupasseres|

| Tyranni|

* †Crosnoornis
* †Wieslochia

Eurylaimides|

| Calyptomenidae|

* Calyptomena
* Smithornis

|

Eurylaimidae|

* Corydon
* Cymbirhynchus
* Eurylaimus
* Psarisomus
* Pseudocalyptomena
* Sarcophanops
* Serilophus

Philepittidae|

* Neodrepanis
* Philepitta

Pittidae|

* Erythropitta
* Hydrornis
* Pitta

Sapayoidae|

* Sapayoa

Tyrannides|

*     * See below ↓

Passeri|

*     * See below ↓

Tyrannides

| Conopophagidae|

* Cephalopterus
* Conopophaga
* Pittasoma

|

Cotingidae|

* Ampelioides
* Ampelion
* Carpodectes
* Carpornis
* Conioptilon
* Cotinga
* Doliornis
* Gymnoderus
* Haematoderus
* Lipaugus
* Querula
* Perissocephalus
* Phibalura
* Phoenicircus
* Phytotoma
* Pipreola
* Porphyrolaema
* Procnias
* Pyroderus
* Rupicola
* Snowornis
* Xipholena
* Zaratornis

Formicariidae|

* Chamaeza
* Formicarius

Furnariidae|

* Berlepschia
* †Pseudoseisuropsis

Sclerurinae|

* Geositta
* Sclerurus

Dendrocolaptinae|

| Dendrocolaptini|

* Campylorhamphus
* Dendrexetastes
* Dendrocolaptes
* Dendroplex
* Drymornis
* Drymotoxeres
* Glyphorynchus
* Hylexetastes
* Lepidocolaptes
* Nasica
* Xiphocolaptes
* Xiphorhynchus

|

Sittasomini|

* Certhiasomus
* Dendrocincla
* Deconychura
* Sittasomus

Furnariinae|

* Xenops

Pygarrhichini|

* Microxenops
* Ochetorhynchus
* Pygarrhichas

Furnariini|

* Cinclodes
* Furnarius
* Geocerthia
* Limnornis
* Lochmias
* Phleocryptes
* Premnornis
* Pseudocolaptes
* Tarphonomus
* Upucerthia

Philydorini|

* Anabacerthia
* Anabazenops
* Ancistrops
* Automolus
* Cichlocolaptes
* Clibanornis
* Dendroma
* Heliobletus
* Megaxenops
* Philydor
* Syndactyla
* Thripadectes

Synallaxini|

* Acrobatornis
* Anumbius
* Aphrastura
* Asthenes
* Certhiaxis
* Coryphistera
* Cranioleuca
* Hellmayrea
* Leptasthenura
* Limnoctites
* Margarornis
* Mazaria
* Metopothrix
* Phacellodomus
* Premnoplex
* Pseudasthenes
* Pseudoseisura
* Roraimia
* Schoeniophylax
* Siptornis
* Spartonoica
* Sylviorthorhynchus
* Synallaxis
* Thripophaga
* Xenerpestes

Grallariidae|

* Cryptopezus
* Grallaria
* Grallaricula
* Hylopezus
* Myrmothera

Melanopareiidae|

* Melanopareia

Pipridae|

* Ceratopipra
* Chiroxiphia
* Chloropipo
* Corapipo
* Cryptopipo
* Heterocercus
* Ilicura
* Lepidothrix
* Machaeropterus
* Manacus
* Masius
* Neopelma
* Pipra
* Pseudopipra
* Tyranneutes
* Xenopipo

Rhinocryptidae|

* Acropternis
* Eleoscytalopus
* Eugralla
* Liosceles
* Merulaxis
* Myornis
* Psilorhamphus
* Pteroptochos
* Rhinocrypta
* Scelorchilus
* Scytalopus
* Teledromas

Thamnophilidae|

| Euchrepomidinae|

* Euchrepomis

|

Myrmornithinae|

* Myrmornis
* Pygiptila
* Thamnistes

Thamnophilinae|

| Formicivorini|

* Formicivora
* Myrmochanes
* Myrmotherula
* Terenura

|

Microrhopiini|

* Ammonastes
* Aprositornis
* Clytoctantes
* Epinecrophylla
* Microrhopias
* Myrmophylax
* Myrmorchilus
* Neoctantes

Pithyini|

* Cercomacra
* Cercomacroides
* Drymophila
* Gymnopithys
* Hypocnemis
* Oneillornis
* Phaenostictus
* Phlegopsis
* Pithys
* Rhegmatorhina
* Sciaphylax
* Willisornis

Pyriglenini|

* Akletos
* Ampelornis
* Gymnocichla
* Hafferia
* Hylophylax
* Hypocnemoides
* Myrmeciza
* Myrmelastes
* Myrmoborus
* Myrmoderus
* Percnostola
* Poliocrania
* Pyriglena
* Rhopornis
* Sclateria
* Sipia

Thamnophilini|

* Batara
* Biatas
* Cymbilaimus
* Dichrozona
* Dysithamnus
* Frederickena
* Herpsilochmus
* Hypoedaleus
* Isleria
* Mackenziaena
* Megastictus
* Radinopsyche
* Rhopias
* Sakesphoroides
* Sakesphorus
* Taraba
* Thamnomanes
* Thamnophilus
* Xenornis

Tityridae|

* Iodopleura
* Laniisoma
* Laniocera
* Myiobius
* Onychorhynchus
* Oxyruncus
* Pachyramphus
* Schiffornis
* Terenotriccus
* Tityra
* Xenopsaris

Tyrannidae|

* Agriornis
* Alectrurus
* Anairetes
* Aphanotriccus
* Arundinicola
* Atalotriccus
* Attila
* Calyptura
* Camptostoma
* Capsiempis
* Casiornis
* Cnemarchus
* Cnemotriccus
* Cnipodectes
* Colonia
* Colorhamphus
* Conopias
* Contopus
* Corythopis
* Culicivora
* Elaenia
* Empidonax
* Empidonomus
* Euscarthmus
* Fluvicola
* Griseotyrannus
* Gubernetes
* Guyramemua
* Hemitriccus
* Heteroxolmis
* Hirundinea
* Hymenops
* Inezia
* Knipolegus
* Lathrotriccus
* Legatus
* Lessonia
* Leptopogon
* Lophotriccus
* Machetornis
* Mecocerculus
* Megarynchus
* Mionectes
* Mitrephanes
* Muscigralla
* Muscipipra
* Muscisaxicola
* Myiarchus
* Myiodynastes
* Myiopagis
* Myiophobus
* Myiornis
* Myiotheretes
* Myiotriccus
* Myiozetetes
* Nengetus
* Neopipo
* Neoxolmis
* Nephelomyias
* Nesotriccus
* Ochthoeca
* Ochthornis
* Oncostoma
* Ornithion
* Phelpsia
* Philohydor
* Phyllomyias
* Phylloscartes
* Piprites
* Pitangus
* Platyrinchus
* Poecilotriccus
* Pogonotriccus
* Polystictus
* Pseudelaenia
* Pseudocolopteryx
* Pseudotriccus
* Pyrocephalus
* Pyrope
* Pyrrhomyias
* Ramphotrigon
* Rhynchocyclus
* Rhytipterna
* Satrapa
* Sayornis
* Serpophaga
* Silvicultrix
* Sirystes
* Stigmatura
* Sublegatus
* Suiriri
* Syrtidicola
* Tachuris
* Taeniotriccus
* Todirostrum
* Tolmomyias
* Tumbezia
* Tyrannopsis
* Tyrannulus
* Tyrannus
* Uromyias
* Xenotriccus
* Xolmis
* Zimmerius

Passeri

†Resoviaornis

| Acanthizidae|

* Acanthiza
* Acanthornis
* Aethomyias
* Aphelocephala
* Calamanthus
* Gerygone
* Hylacola
* Neosericornis
* Oreoscopus
* Origma
* Pachycare
* Pycnoptilus
* Pyrrholaemus
* Sericornis
* Smicrornis

|

Atrichornithidae|

* Atrichornis

Callaeidae|

* Callaeas
* †Heteralocha
* Philesturnus

Climacteridae|

* Climacteris
* Cormobates

Cnemophilidae|

* Cnemophilus
* Loboparadisea

Dasyornithidae|

* Dasyornis

Maluridae|

| Amytornithinae|

* Amytornis

|

Malurinae|

| Malurini|

* Chenorhamphus
* Clytomyias
* Malurus
* Sipodotus

|

Stipiturini|

* Stipiturus

Melanocharitidae|

* Melanocharis
* Oedistoma
* Rhamphocharis
* Toxorhamphus

Meliphagidae|

* Acanthagenys
* Acanthorhynchus
* Anthochaera
* Anthornis
* Ashbyia
* Bolemoreus
* Caligavis
* Certhionyx
* Cissomela
* Conopophila
* Entomyzon
* Epthianura
* Foulehaio
* Gavicalis
* Gliciphila
* Glycichaera
* Glycifohia
* Grantiella
* Guadalcanaria
* Gymnomyza
* Lichenostomus
* Lichmera
* Macgregoria
* Manorina
* Meliarchus
* Melidectes
* Melilestes
* Melionyx
* Meliphacator
* Meliphaga
* Melipotes
* Melithreptus
* Melitograis
* Microptilotis
* Myza
* Myzomela
* Nesoptilotis
* Oreornis
* Plectorhyncha
* Philemon
* Phylidonyris
* Ptiloprora
* Ptilotula
* Prosthemadera
* Purnella
* Pycnopygius
* Ramsayornis
* Stomiopera
* Stresemannia
* Sugomel
* Territornis
* Timeliopsis
* Trichodere
* Vosea
* Xanthotis

Menuridae|

* Menura

Notiomystidae|

* Notiomystis

Orthonychidae|

* Orthonyx

†Palaeoscinidae|

* Palaeoscinis

Pardalotidae|

* Pardalotus

Pomatostomidae|

* Garritornis
* Pomatostomus

Ptilonorhynchidae|

* Ailuroedus
* Amblyornis
* Archboldia
* Chlamydera
* Prionodura
* Ptilonorhynchus
* Scenopoeetes
* †Sericuloides
* Sericulus

Corvides|

*     * See Corvides

Passerida|

*     * See Passerida

Portals:

* Birds
* New Zealand

Taxon identifiers

Philesturnus|

* Wikidata: Q13405119
* Wikispecies: Philesturnus
* BOLD: 95599
* GBIF: 2484493
* iNaturalist: 71736
* IRMNG: 1061302
* ITIS: 558046
* NCBI: 2133942
* NZOR: c1c663ff-3c85-4829-925e-48a9808ee0c6
* Open Tree of Life: 61985
* Paleobiology Database: 143846

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[†]: Extinct