NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Chiming Wedgebill
Psophodes occidentalis (Mathews, 1912)
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.
Chiming Wedgebill (Psophodes occidentalis) in Blackbutt Reserve, Newcastle, Australia
Chocolateoak · 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 chiming wedgebill (Psophodes occidentalis), sometimes referred to as chiming whipbird, is a species of bird in the family Psophodidae.
It is endemic to Australia. The chiming wedgebill and chirruping wedgebill (Psophodes occidentalis) used to be considered one species until as late as 1973, when they were separated due to marked differences in their calls. Its sound consists of 4-6 descending notes sounding like loud chimes, and the final note is underlined and interpreted as "did-you-get-drunk" or "sweet-kitty-Lintorf". There is nothing documented about the female and male producing the same sound.
Wikipedia contributors, Chiming wedgebill; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:19:05.667948+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Psophodes occidentalis (Mathews, 1912)
- Name authority
- (Mathews, 1912)
- Common name
- Chiming Wedgebill
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Psophodidae
- Genus
- Psophodes
- 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
- familyPsophodidae Bonaparte, 1854
- genusPsophodes Vigors & Horsfield, 1827
- speciesPsophodes occidentalis (Mathews, 1912)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Psophodes. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Western WhipbirdPsophodes nigrogularis Gould, 1844 | PsophodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chirruping WedgebillPsophodes cristatus (Gould, 1838) | PsophodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Eastern WhipbirdPsophodes olivaceus (Latham, 1801) | PsophodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Sphenostoma cristatum occidentale Mathews, 1912 Mathews, 1912 | 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=562552 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:4PLCY. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.