Brown Thornbill
Acanthiza pusilla· 细嘴莺科(1 photos)
Brown Thornbill
10 cm. Varies geographically; warm brown to olive-brown above, flanks olive-buff to yellowish white. All have buff scallops on forehead; large dark red eye; blackish arrow-streaks on grey throat/breast; rump/tail base tawny; tail grey-brown with blackish subterminal band, paler tips. Singles, pairs, family parties: fussily active; forages in lower branchlets, undergrowth; hangs, flutters. In flight, flirts tail.
- Similar Species
- Striated, Inland, Tasmanian Thornbills.
- Voice
- deep, rolling 'pee-orr'; fussy squeaks, churrs; deep, zizzing scolding; alarm call: high-pitched 'seee'.
- Habitat
- understorey in rainforest; eucalypt forests, woodlands, scrubs; watercourse vegetation, bracken, wetland plants; dune vegetation, mallee fringes, saltmarsh, mangroves, parks, gardens.
- Breeding
- June-Dec.
- Nest
- domed; of bark-shreds, grass, spiders' web and egg-sacs; low in undergrowth.
- Eggs
- 3; whitish; blotched, freckled red-brown.
- Range & Status
- se. Aust.: from Proserpine (Q) to Yorke Pen.-Kangaroo I. (SA). In Q, w. to c. Cracow-Toowoomba; in NSW, w. to c. Inverell-Warrumbungle NP-The Rock, w. in Murray Valley to c. Barham; all Vic., except nw. mallee; w. to se. SA-Mt Lofty Ras.; King I. and Tas. Common. Sedentary.
- Distribution key to races
- 1. Acanthiza pusilla dawsonensis 2. Acanthiza pusilla pusilla 3. Acanthiza pusilla diemenensis 4. Acanthiza pusilla magnirostris 5. Acanthiza pusilla zietzi
