Spotted Catbird

The spotted catbird (Ailuroedus maculosus) is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found in north Queensland in Australia, the eastern Moluccas and New Guinea. Although it is a member of the bowerbird family, it does not build a bower. Widespread and common throughout its large range, the spotted catbird is evaluated as Least Concern on IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is a chunky rainforest bird with emerald green upperparts, a black spot below the dark red eye, and green-olive underparts with extensive pale spotting. It inhabits the Wet Tropics of Queensland (Cairns region), and thus does not overlap with similar green catbird. == Taxonomy == The spotted catbird is one of ten species in the genus Ailuroedus, the non bower-building bowerbirds. The noticeable difference between the two Australian dwelling species is the lack of black ear-coverts and reduction in dorsal spotting on A. cassirostris. Molecular evidence suggests Ailuroedus is a sister group to the other bowerbirds, diverging into the only genus within the eight species of Australian bowerbirds that is monogamous and does not build a bower or clear a court for mating. The other bowerbirds are polygynous and make various forms of bowers or create…