Crested Bellbird
Oreoica gutturalis· 冠钟鹟科(3 photos)
Crested Bellbird
20-23 cm. Distinctive inland vocalist. Male: forehead/throat white, bordered by black band from slender erectile black crest to broad black breast-patch; rest of head grey; eye orange-red; upperparts grey-brown; rump tinged chestnut; underparts whitish; undertail-coverts buffish. Female and immature: browner: no breast-patch; eye yellowish. Singles, pairs, family parties, small companies: forages on ground, stumps, low branches; hops briskly. Flight strong, undulating: lacks white tail tips. Calling, perches high, on exposed dead branch, turning left and right, hence 'ventriloquial' quality.
- Similar Species
- Wedgebills, Western Whipbird.
- Voice
- celebrated, unusual, liquid; starts softly, intensifies: 'did-did-did, didee-dit', 'pan-pan, panella', or mellow 'plunk plunk' or 'plunka-plunka-plunka', last syllable dropping in liquid plonk or like mellow cow-bell; from distance, only this may be heard. Contact-call: thin 'seep', like quail-thrush. Alarm-call: harsh 'chuck-a-chuck-chuck'.
- Habitat
- arid scrublands - mulga, other acacias; saltbush, belar, mallee/spinifex; eucalypt woodlands.
- Breeding
- Aug.-Dec., or after rain.
- Nest
- untidy cup of bark strips, leaves, twigs; lined with grass, rootlets; 1-3 m high on stump, fork of shrub, tree. Places immobilised live caterpillars around rim.
- Eggs
- 3-4; white, blotched dark brown, grey.
- Range & Status
- widespread mainland Aust., mostly w. of Gt Divide and s. of tropical coastal n. Aust. Extends to w. coast s. of NW Cape (WA); s. coast of WA/SA, e. to se. SA; mostly absent from far sw. WA, s. coastal and e. Vic.; coastal e. NSW-e. Q. Sedentary; locally nomadic.
- Distribution key to races
- 1. Oreoica gutturalis gutturalis 2. Oreoica gutturalis pallescens
