NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Little Friarbird
Philemon citreogularis (Gould, 1837)
Source-backed taxonomic record
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.
Little friarbird, Lake Cargelligo, New South Wales, Australia
JJ Harrison · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The little friarbird (Philemon citreogularis), also known as the little leatherhead or yellow-throated friarbird, is the smallest of the friarbirds within the Philemon genus. It is found throughout northern and eastern Australia as well as southern Papua New Guinea. It lives a very prominent life, whereby it can easily be seen chasing other honeyeaters, and also it is very vocal. However, the little friarbird is usually spotted high up in trees, rarely being seen on the ground.
Wikipedia contributors, Little friarbird; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:26:23.084086+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Philemon citreogularis (Gould, 1837)
- Name authority
- (Gould, 1837)
- Common name
- Little Friarbird
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Meliphagidae
- Genus
- Philemon
- 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
- familyMeliphagidae
- genusPhilemon Vieillot, 1816
- speciesPhilemon citreogularis (Gould, 1837)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Philemon. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Helmeted FriarbirdPhilemon buceroides (Swainson, 1838) | MeliphagidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| New Britain FriarbirdPhilemon cockerelli P. L. Sclater, 1877 | MeliphagidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Noisy FriarbirdPhilemon corniculatus (Latham, 1790) | MeliphagidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| New Ireland FriarbirdPhilemon eichhorni Rothschild & E. Hartert, 1924 | MeliphagidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Timor FriarbirdPhilemon inornatus (G. R. Gray, 1846) | MeliphagidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-faced FriarbirdPhilemon moluccensis (J. F. Gmelin, 1788) | MeliphagidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Meyer's FriarbirdPhilemon meyeri Salvadori, 1878 | MeliphagidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hornbill FriarbirdPhilemon yorki Mathews, 1912 | MeliphagidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Manus FriarbirdPhilemon albitorques P. L. Sclater, 1877 | MeliphagidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Silver-crowned FriarbirdPhilemon argenticeps (Gould, 1840) | MeliphagidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Brass's FriarbirdPhilemon brassi Rand, 1940 | MeliphagidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| New Caledonian FriarbirdPhilemon diemenensis (R. Lesson, 1831) | MeliphagidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
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=561986 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:4G5RL. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.