Thornbills - those little brown jobs

A decent bird field guide will inform you that Australia has ten or more species of those little brown birds called thornbills. They are perhaps the most frustrating bird to properly identify for a beginner bird watcher, hence the term LBJ: Little Brown Job.

Originally, variously called Tit, Tit-bird, Tit-warbler, and Tit-mouse, it wasn’t until the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union in 1926 officially listed them as Thornbills that they got their current moniker. Some references describe the origins of ‘thornbill’ for their tiny thorn-like bill, others say it is because they like to occupy thorn-bushes (which is not always true). Since they belong to the Acanthiza genus and acantha is Greek for thorn or prickle or prickly plant, the obscurity remains – for me at least. The taxonomy of bird names can be a never-ending pursuit. Here’s a link to the Wikipedia page for Acanthiza.

Whatever, our thornbills are endearing little brown (mostly) birds. They are not stunningly colourful, or melodic, particularly, but for many of us sad bird people, they are little charmers.

In West Gippsland, we have three thornbill species that can be commonly encountered; in order of most frequently seen – Brown Thornbill, A. pusilla (pusilla = small) Striated Thornbill, A. lineata (lineata = lined) and the Yellow Thornbill, A. nana (nana = dwarf).

Brown Thornbill

The most common identifiers include: rufous crown with scalloping, red eye, dark striations on throat and belly.

Brown Thornbills have a surprisingly loud call for a little bird – a deep, rolling ‘pee-orr’, a high-pitched ‘seee’, and a harsh ‘tzzt’. Brown Thornbills are usually seen in small groups in the understory. Some lucky people have them in their native gardens.

Striated Thornbill

Obvious streaking around the eye, over the crown and down the throat and belly. Body colour can vary – lemony-yellowy-buff-brownish-greyish …

You need good hearing to hear their high-pitched, insect-like ‘tzz-tzz’ in the tree tops. Striateds are usually found in small groups high in the eucalypt canopy, where they can be remarkably faithful to their territory. Being so small and so high up, Striated Thornbills are probably more abundant in this district than we realise.

Yellow Thornbill  

Yellow Thornbills are almost entirely yellow with some pale streaking around the eye.

They have a deep but soft ‘chidid-tz-tz’ call. Yellow Thornbills seldom inhabit eucalypts and are nearly always seen in the vicinity of wattles, casaurinas, and other trees with ‘feathery’ foliage. Like the striated, Yellow Thornbills can often be seen regularly in the same location containing their preferred habitat.

All three of these thornbills are small and active – good luck!

 

 

Autumn, the season of change

“Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away; Lengthen night and shorten day; Every leaf speaks bliss to me Fluttering from the autumn tree.” – Emily Bronte

The ‘season of change’ is one of the best times to explore some of our parks and gardens. Alex Goudie Park at present is a picture. The Honey Locust is turning gold, the Pin Oaks have carpets of leaves beneath them, and the Fly Agarics are popping up under the Norway Spruce.

Hot, dry summers can be very stressful times for many plants, and many Australian trees and shrubs have adapted to flower in autumn and winter when the soil is still warm, the temperature more benign, and the rain more predictable. Many Hakeas, Grevilleas, and Correas are at their best at this time of year.

There are of course, other autumnal connotations for some!

 

Avifaunal sexual dimorphism

… or, the difference between girl birds and boy birds.

Golden Whistler (dimorphic)

The visual difference between male and female birds is very obvious in some species. The sombre grey tones of the female Golden Whistler are so completely different from the visually striking gold, black and white of the male.

Chestnut Teal (dimorphic - and the female has two legs😊)

The female Chestnut Teal has mottled brown feathers with a grey edge, a pale white throat patch, and lacks the iridescent green head of the male.

King Parrot (dimorphic)

When the sexes are visually different in the bird world, it is mostly the male that is more colourful or at least visually brighter than the female (but not always – see later). Sexual dimorphism is the condition where different sexes of the same species exhibit differences in form, size, colour or structure. Sometimes the differences can be very minimal or subtle, and easily missed.

Crested Pigeon (monomorphic but some males might have a longer crest)

About half the world’s birds exhibit sexual dimorphism. The other half are monomorphic – the sexes are similar. Field guides will often describe monomorphic species as “sexes are similar” or sometimes, “sexes are similar, females duller”. In some field guides, no attempt is made to distinguish between male and female monomorphic species, just ‘adult’ and ‘juvenile’ differences might be explained.

Large-billed Corella (monomorphic)

A very few species of birds exhibit reverse sexual dimorphism (RSD) that is, the female is visually more colourful/brighter than the male.

Eclectus Parrot - Moonlit Sanctuary (reverse sexually dimorphic)

The Eclectus Parrot from Cape York Peninsula is a reverse sexually dimorphic species. The male is uniform emerald green with scarlet underwings. The female is a striking scarlet and blue bird.