NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
North Island Saddleback
Philesturnus rufusater (R. P. Lesson, 1828)
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.
North Island Saddleback
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 North Island saddleback (Philesturnus rufusater) is a forest-dwelling passerine bird species endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. It was once considered conspecific with the South Island saddleback. The IUCN lists the species as Near Threatened, while it is listed as a "relict" species in the New Zealand Threat Classification System. Saddlebacks are known in Māori as tīeke.
Wikipedia contributors, North Island saddleback; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:19:51.196877+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Philesturnus rufusater (R. P. Lesson, 1828)
- Name authority
- (R. P. Lesson, 1828)
- Common name
- North Island Saddleback
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Callaeidae
- Genus
- Philesturnus
- 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
- familyCallaeidae Sundevall, 1836
- genusPhilesturnus I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1832
- speciesPhilesturnus rufusater (R. P. Lesson, 1828)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Philesturnus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| South Island SaddlebackPhilesturnus carunculatus (J. F. Gmelin, 1789) | CallaeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Philesturnus carunculatus rufusater (R. P. Lesson, 1828) (R. P. Lesson, 1828) | synonym |
| Icterus rufusater R. P. Lesson, 1828 R. P. Lesson, 1828 | 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=1268436 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:S4BCZ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.