Sahul cicadabird


The Sahul cicadabird, previously known as the common cicadabird or slender-billed cicadabird, is a species of passerine bird in the family Campephagidae. It is found in Australia, New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago. Its natural habitats are temperate forest and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. The species is placed in the reinstated genus Edolisoma by most authors. The common cicadabird was described as a "great speciator" by Mayr & Diamond ; and Pedersen et al. described how this species rapidly colonized and diversified across the Indo-Pacific island region and Australia in the Pleistocene.

Subspecies

Six subspecies are recognised:E. t. nehrkorni Salvadori, 1890 – Waigeo E. t. aruense Sharpe, 1878Aru Islands and southwest, central south New GuineaE. t. muellerii Salvadori, 1876Kofiau and Misool, New Guinea, D'Entrecasteaux Archipelago, Long and Sakar E. t. tagulanum Hartert, EJO, 1898 – Misima and Tagula Island E. t. melvillensenortheast Western Australia to Cape York Peninsula, northeast Queensland E. t. tenuirostre – central east Queensland to southeast Victoria
Under the name "common cicadabird" this species formerly included 21 subspecies. Based mainly on a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2018, the species was split and seven new species were recognised. The new species are: the Rossel cicadabird, Geelvink cicadabird, Banggai cicadabird, Obi cicadabird, North Moluccan cicadabird, South Moluccan cicadabird and the Timor cicadabird.