Blue-capped ifrit

Blue-capped ifrit
File:Ifrita kowaldi 1899.jpg
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Ifritidae
Genus:	Ifrita Rothschild, 1898
Species:	I. kowaldi
Binomial name
Ifrita kowaldi (De Vis, 1890)

The blue-capped ifrit (Ifrita kowaldi), also known as the blue-capped ifrita, is a small insectivorous bird endemic to the rainforests of New Guinea. It measures up to 16.5 cm long and has yellowish brown plumage with a blue and black crown. The male has a white streak behind its eye, while the female's is a dull yellow. It creeps on trunks and branches in search of insects.

The blue-capped ifrit is placed as the only member of the genus Ifrita, which historically has been placed in the family Cinclosomatidae or the Monarchidae. It now appears the bird is more properly placed in its own family Ifritidae. This enigmatic bird is one of only three bird genera known to have poisonous members, the others being the genus Pitohui, also from New Guinea, and the little shrikethrush (Colluricincla).

The blue-capped ifrit, like the hooded pitohui, sequesters batrachotoxin in its skin and feathers, which causes numbness and tingling to those who handle the bird. The toxin is acquired from part of its diet, specifically Choresine spp. beetles.

Widespread and common throughout its large range, the blue-capped ifrit is evaluated as least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

See also

• Batrachotoxin
• Toxic birds

Bibliography

• del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Christie D. (editors). (2007). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-84-96553-42-2

External links

• BirdLife Species Factsheet
• The Intoxicating Birds of New Guinea by John Tidwell