Australian Golden Whistler
Pachycephala pectoralis (Latham, 1802)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Australian golden whistler (ssp. youngi), Brunkerville, New South Wales, Australia
JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Australian golden whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis) or golden whistler, is a species of passerine bird in the family Pachycephalidae. It is found in forest, woodland, mallee, mangrove and scrub in Australia (except the interior and most of the north). Most populations are resident, but some in south-eastern Australia migrate north during the winter. Its taxonomy is highly complex and remains a matter of dispute, with some authorities including as many as 59 subspecies of the golden whistler (one of the highest numbers of subspecies in any bird), while others treat several of these as separate species.
Wikipedia contributors, Australian golden whistler; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T11:27:58.127998+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Pachycephala pectoralis (Latham, 1802)
- Name authority
- (Latham, 1802)
- Common name
- Australian Golden Whistler
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Pachycephalidae
- Genus
- Pachycephala
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyPachycephalidae Swainson, 1831
- genusPachycephala Vigors, 1825
- speciesPachycephala pectoralis (Latham, 1802)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Pachycephala. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Green-backed WhistlerPachycephala albiventris (Ogilvie-Grant, 1894) | PachycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Melanesian WhistlerPachycephala caledonica (Gmelin, 1789) | PachycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pachycephala cinerea (Blyth, 1847) | PachycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Samoan WhistlerPachycephala flavifrons (Peale, 1848) | PachycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pachycephala fulvotincta Wallace, 1864 | PachycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pachycephala graeffii Hartlaub, 1866 | PachycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Drab WhistlerPachycephala griseonota G. R. Gray, 1862 | PachycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Gilbert's WhistlerPachycephala inornata Gould, 1841 | PachycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Tongan WhistlerPachycephala jacquinoti Bonaparte, 1850 | PachycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pachycephala leucogastra Salvadori & Albertis, 1875 | PachycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lorentz's WhistlerPachycephala lorentzi Mayr, 1931 | PachycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pachycephala mentalis Wallace, 1863 | PachycephalidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=561774 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4BQD9. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.