Honeyeaters (Meliphagidae)

Helmeted Friarbird (Philemon buceroides) - HBW 13, p. 680

French: Polochion casqué German: Helmlederkopf Spanish: Filemón de Yelmo
Other common names: (Helmeted) Leatherhead, (Little) Friarbird, Monsoon/Mangrove Friarbird; Cape York Friarbird (yorki); Melville (Island) Friarbird (gordoni); Sandstone Friarbird (ammitophilus); Timor (Helmeted) Friarbird (buceroides); New Guinea Friarbird (New Guinea races and yorki)

Taxonomy: Philedon buceroides Swainson, 1838, “New Holland”; error = Timor.
Forms a superspecies with P. fuscicapillus, P. subcorniculatus, P. moluccensis, P. plumigenis, P. buceroides, P. cockerelli, P. eichhorni and P. albitorques. Formerly suggested that all may belong to a single species. Taxonomy of present species unsettled, and further study required; species as currently constituted may be polyphyletic; limits of races uncertain, and molecular analyses needed, combined with examination of birds at equivalent states of plumage wear, and vocalizations. Races fall into two groups: those from Lesser Sundas (nominate and neglectus) and CN Australia (gordoni and ammitophilus) form one group, and those of New Guinea and associated islands (aruensis, jobiensis, novaeguineae, subtuberosus and tagulanus) and NE Australia (yorki) form another; groups often treated as two separate species. In N Australia, races gordoni and ammitophilus occupy different habitats and appear to be allopatric; possibly represent two separate species. Other proposed races are sumbanus (from Sumba, in Lesser Sundas) and plesseni (Lomblen, in Lesser Sundas), both merged with neglectus; pallidiceps (Wetar, in Lesser Sundas), synonymized with nominate; brevipennis (Utakwa R, in S New Guinea), fretensis (Hall Sound, in SE New Guinea) and trivialis (Collingwood Bay, on N coast of SE New Guinea), all subsumed in novaeguineae; and, in Australia, confusus (from Cairns, in N Queensland), treated as synonym of yorki. Ten subspecies currently recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

neglectus (Büttikofer, 1891) - Lombok, Sumbawa, Moyo, Sangeang, Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Besar, Adonara, Lomblen, Pantar, Alor and Sumba, in Lesser Sundas.
buceroides (Swainson, 1838) - Sawu, Roti, Semau, Timor, Atauro and Wetar, in E Lesser Sundas.
gordoni Mathews, 1912 - N Northern Territory (Tiwi Is and coastal Arnhem Land), in N Australia.

See all 10 subspecies

neglectus (Büttikofer, 1891) - Lombok, Sumbawa, Moyo, Sangeang, Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Besar, Adonara, Lomblen, Pantar, Alor and Sumba, in Lesser Sundas.
buceroides (Swainson, 1838) - Sawu, Roti, Semau, Timor, Atauro and Wetar, in E Lesser Sundas.
gordoni Mathews, 1912 - N Northern Territory (Tiwi Is and coastal Arnhem Land), in N Australia.
ammitophilus Schodde et al., 1979 - subcoastal sandstone plateaux of Arnhem Land (S to Katherine Gorge and Mataranka), in Northern Territory.
novaeguineae (S. Müller, 1843) - West Papuan Is (Waigeo, Kofiau, Salawati, Batanta, Misool), and NW & S New Guinea (Vogelkop E to Geelvink Bay and, in S, E to Milne Bay and, in SE, on N coast E from Kumusi R).
jobiensis (A. B. Meyer, 1874) - Yapen I (in Geelvink Bay) and N New Guinea from Mamberamo R E to S coastal Huon Gulf (around Salamaua).
aruensis (A. B. Meyer, 1884) - Aru Is.
subtuberosus E. J. O. Hartert, 1896 - Trobriand Is (Kaileuna, Kiriwina and Kitava) and D’Entrecasteaux Archipelago (Goodenough, Fergusson and Normanby), off SE New Guinea.
tagulanus Rothschild & E. J. O. Hartert, 1918 - Tagula I, in Louisiade Archipelago (off SE New Guinea).
yorki Mathews, 1912 - islands in CW & S Torres Strait, and coastal NE Queensland (S to Weipa, on W Cape York Peninsula, and, in E, to Broad Sound, including some offshore islands), in NE Australia.