NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Dusky Friarbird
Philemon fuscicapillus (Wallace, 1862)
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Morotai friarbird or dusky friarbird (Philemon fuscicapillus) is a species of friarbird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. It is a dark brown bird with pale undersides. The area around the eye is bare and pink. It is around 30 cm long. The species is mimicked by the dusky-brown oriole, which is almost identical in appearance, a situation that has arisen in many species of orioles and friarbirds that exist in the same habitat. This is thought to reduce aggression by the friarbirds against the smaller orioles. It is endemic to the island of Morotai (there are also unproven records on Bacan) in North Maluku, Indonesia.
Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests and tropical moist shrubland. The species is tolerant of habitat degradation and has been observed living in coconut plantations. It is probably threatened by habitat loss, as much of the remaining forest in its range is threatened with logging, but more research is needed.
Wikipedia contributors, Morotai friarbird; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:44:52.578991+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Philemon fuscicapillus (Wallace, 1862)
- Name authority
- (Wallace, 1862)
- Common name
- Dusky 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 fuscicapillus (Wallace, 1862)
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 |
| Little FriarbirdPhilemon citreogularis (Gould, 1837) | 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 |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Tropidorhynchus fuscicapillus Wallace, 1862 Wallace, 1862 | synonym |
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=561991 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:4G5RR. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.