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Three passerine species in the genus Pitohui, endemic to the New Guinea subregion, contain the steroidal alkaloid homobatrachotoxin, apparently as a chemical defense. Toxin concentrations varied among species but were always highest in the skin and feathers. Homobatrachotoxin is a member of a class of compounds collectively called batrachotoxins that were previously considered to be restricted to neotropical poison-dart frogs of the genus Phyllobates. The occurrence of homobatrachotoxin in pitohuis suggests that birds and frogs independently evolved this class of alkaloids.
Dumbacher et al. (Fri,) studied this question.