Black pitohui
Melanorectes nigrescens (Schlegel, 1871)
The black pitohui (Melanorectes nigrescens) is a species in the family Pachycephalidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 62 g to 76.9 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the black pitohui
- Weight
- 62 g – 76.9 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the black pitohui live?
Not recorded
What is the black pitohui?
The black pitohui (Melanorectes nigrescens) is a species of bird in the monotypic genus of Melanorectes in the family Pachycephalidae.
It is found throughout the highlands of New Guinea.
Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
From the Wikipedia article “Black pitohui” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black_pitohui&oldid=1314092436), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the black pitohui endangered?
The black pitohui is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the black pitohui classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyPachycephalidae
- genusMelanorectes
- SpeciesMelanorectes nigrescens (Schlegel, 1871)
Synonyms Pitohui nigrescens, Pitohui nigrescens nigrescens, Rectes nigrescens
Other names and names in other languages (34)
- pituí negreCatalan
- pištec černýCzech
- pitohwi duWelsh
- Sort PitohuiDanish
- MohrenpitohuiGerman
- Mohren-PitohuiGerman
- SchwarzdickkopfGerman
- nigra pakicefaloEsperanto
- Nigra venenorioloEsperanto
- Pitohuí negroSpanish
- mustaisoviheltäjäFinnish
- Pitohui noirFrench
- Siffleur noirFrench
- crna zviždavkaCroatian
- kormos gyümölcsrigóHungarian
- Pitohui hitamIndonesian
- Pitoui neroItalian
- クロモリモズJapanese
- juodasis pitohasLithuanian
- Zwarte PitohuiDutch
- svartpitohuiNorwegian
- fletownik czarnyPolish
- sibilante-pretoPortuguese
- assobiadeira-pretaPortuguese
- Чёрный свистунRussian
- Чёрная дроздовая мухоловкаRussian
- hlaváčik čiernySlovak
- Crni pitohuiSerbian
- svartvisslareSwedish
- Kara PitohuyiTurkish
- пітогу чорнийUkrainian
- ядлівчак чорнийUkrainian
- 黑林鵙鶲Chinese
- 黑林鵙鹟Chinese
Relatives of the black pitohui
Other species in the same family Pachycephalidae.
Eastern shriketit
Falcunculus frontatus
Mottled berryhunter
Rhagologus leucostigma
Australian golden whistler
Pachycephala pectoralis
Grey shrikethrush
Colluricincla harmonica
Bornean whistler
Pachycephala hypoxantha
Bower's shrikethrush
Colluricincla boweri
CompareBlack pitohui vs Eastern shriketitBlack pitohui vs Mottled berryhunterBlack pitohui vs Australian golden whistlerBlack pitohui vs Grey shrikethrush
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the black pitohui?
An adult black pitohui weighs 62 g – 76.9 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the black pitohui endangered?
The black pitohui is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the black pitohui?
The black pitohui (Melanorectes nigrescens) belongs to the family Pachycephalidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Black pitohui (Melanorectes nigrescens). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-pitohui
“Black pitohui (Melanorectes nigrescens).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-pitohui.
@misc{black_pitohui_2026,
title = {Black pitohui (Melanorectes nigrescens)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-pitohui},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}