褐背小鹟
Microeca fascinans· 鸲鹟科(3 photos)
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Jacky Winter
12-14 cm. Small confiding grey-brown bird of much charm: slight white eyebrow; dark eyemark; breast white, washed grey-brown; prominent blackish brown tail has conspicuous white outer feathers. Immature: streaked paler above, mottled below. Singles, pairs: watches from dead trees, stumps, fence-posts; flirts large white-edged tail. Sallies high over treetops after insects, hovers low over grass. Sings loudly from high branches; makes high, wavering song-flights.
- Other name
- Brown Flycatcher; Peter Peter; Stumpbird.
- Similar Species
- Lemon-bellied Flycatcher, race tormenti. 'Brown' red robins.
- Voice
- sustained, high, clear phrases: 'peter-peter-peter', 'plicky-plicky-plicky'; mimics.
- Habitat
- open woodlands, scrublands; paddocks with live/dead trees; stumps, fences, timber on dams, watercourses, country roadsides, golf courses, orchards.
- Breeding
- July-Dec. in s.; after rain in n. and inland.
- Nest
- tiny shallow cup of grass, spiders' web, bark, lichen; on horizontal, often dead, branch or fork, 1-20 m high.
- Eggs
- 2; pale green-blue, spotted purplish brown, lilac.
- Range & Status
- mainland Aust.: sparse n. C. York Pen., driest deserts; scarce seasonal visitor c. Aust. Common; patchy in settled areas. Sedentary; dispersive in winter. Also PNG.
- Distribution key to races
- 1. Microeca fascinans pallida 2. Microeca fascinans fascinans 3. Microeca fascinans assimilis
