>Acanthiza uropygialis (Chestnut-rumped Thornbill)

Chestnut-rumped Thornbill

 

Chestnut-rumped Thornbill
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Pardalotidae
Genus:	Acanthiza
Species:	A. uropygialis
Binomial name
Acanthiza uropygialis Gould, 1838

The Chestnut-rumped Thornbill (Acanthiza uropygialis) is a species of bird in thePardalotidae family. It is endemic to Australia.

>Acanthiza robustirostris (Slaty-backed Thornbill)

Slaty-backed Thornbill

Slaty-backed Thornbill
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Pardalotidae
Genus:	Acanthiza
Species:	A. robustirostris
Binomial name
Acanthiza robustirostris Milligan, 1903
The Approximate Distribution of the Slaty-backed Thornbill

The Slaty-backed Thornbill (Acanthiza robustirostris) is a species of bird in the Pardalotidaefamily. It is endemic to Australia.

>Acanthiza reguloides (Buff-rumped Thornbill)

Buff-rumped Thornbill

Buff-rumped Thornbill
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Pardalotidae
Genus:	Acanthiza
Species:	A. reguloides
Binomial name
Acanthiza reguloides Vigors & Horsfield, 1827

The Buff-rumped Thornbill (Acanthiza reguloides) is a species of thornbill found in open forest land in east Australia, specifically around Sydney, south of Chinchilla and east of Cobar in an area of 1,000,000–10,000,000 km². The Buff-rumped Thornbill is found in temperate or subtropical/tropical moist environments living and feeding amidst the ground foliage, hence the term "buff-rump". However they are known to prefer nesting sites in areas above ground level, particularly amongst the bark of trees, one to two metres above the ground. Of a similar size to other thornbills, 8–10 cm long, the Buff-rumped Thornbill is identifiable by its "buff-coloured rump and belly" and white irides in its eye.

Since 1926 the Buff-rumped Thornbill and the Varied Thornbill (A. squamata) have been combined as a single species., however this is despite considerable differences between extreme examples of the two groups. The Buff-rumped Thornbill is described as 'uncommon' on some occasions however it is not deemed to be endangered and has been in the low risk category for theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources since 1988.

Wallangarra, S. Queensland, Australia

>Acanthiza pusilla (Brown Thornbill)

Brown Thornbill

Brown Thornbill
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Acanthizidae
Genus:	Acanthiza
Species:	A. pusilla
Binomial name
Acanthiza pusilla (Shaw, 1790)

The Brown Thornbill, Acanthiza pusilla, is a passerine bird usually found in eastern and south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania. It can grow up to 10 cm long, and feeds on insects.

>Acanthiza nana (Yellow Thornbill)

Yellow Thornbill

Yellow Thornbill
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Acanthizidae
Genus:	Acanthiza
Species:	A. nana
Binomial name
Acanthiza nana Vigors & Horsfield, 1827
Distribution of the Yellow Thornbill

The Yellow Thornbill, Acanthiza nana, is a passerine bird usually found in Australia. It is protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974.

>Acanthiza murina (New Guinea Thornbill)

New Guinea Thornbill

New Guinea Thornbill
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Pardalotidae
Genus:	Acanthiza
Species:	A. murina
Binomial name
Acanthiza murina (De Vis, 1897)

The New Guinea Thornbill or Papuan Thornbill (Acanthiza murina) is a species of bird in thePardalotidae family. It is found in West Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.

>Acanthiza lineata (Striated Thornbill)

Striated Thornbill

Striated Thornbill
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Pardalotidae
Genus:	Acanthiza
Species:	A. lineata
Binomial name
Acanthiza lineata Gould, 1838
Distribution of the Striated Thornbill

The Striated Thornbill (Acanthiza lineata) is a species of bird in the Pardalotidae family. It isendemic to Australia.

Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.

>Acanthiza katherina (Mountain Thornbill)

Mountain Thornbill

 

Mountain Thornbill
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Pardalotidae
Genus:	Acanthiza
Species:	A. katherina
Binomial name
Acanthiza katherina De Vis, 1905

The Mountain Thornbill (Acanthiza katherina) is a species of bird in the Pardalotidae family. It is endemic to Australia.

Its natural habitat is tropical rainforest on the Atherton tableland in north-east Queensland.

>Acanthiza iredalei (Slender-billed Thornbill)

Slender-billed Thornbill

Slender-billed Thornbill
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Pardalotidae
Genus:	Acanthiza
Species:	A. iredalei
Binomial name
Acanthiza iredalei Mathews, 1911
Subspecies
Acanthiza iredalei hedleyi Acanthiza iredalei iredalei Acanthiza iredalei rosinae

The Slender-billed Thornbill (Acanthiza iredalei) is a small bird native to Australia. It includes three separate sub-species:

• A. i. hedleyi
• A. i. iredalei
• A. i. rosinae

This thornbill can be found in shrublands and salt marshes, typically those around salt lakes or low heath on sand plains. It eats mostly insects and spiders captured in the shrubs of its habitat. It rarely feeds on the ground, preferring instead the higher elevations of shrubs and trees.

The Slender-billed Thornbill is rarely observed alone. They are usually seen in flocks of approximately eight birds or in pairs. Thornbill nests are small and built in low shrubs. They are constructed of grass, bark, cobwebs, and other shrubland debris. Females lay up to three eggs during the breeding season, which runs from July until November.

Description

The thornbill ranges from 9 to 10 centimeters in length. The colour of its back ranges from olive-grey to a darker olive-brown. The base of its tail is olive-yellow. Its underbelly is a smooth cream colour, and it has a dark bill and pale eyes.

Distribution and habitat

The Slender-billed Thornbill iredalei subspecies has six separate and isolated populations in Western Australia, and a large population in the Carnarvon bioregion.The hedleyi subspecies ranges across eastern Australia, and the rosinae subspecies can be found in southern Australia.

Conservation status

Broad status

The rosinae subspecies, most commonly found in Gulf St Vincent, is considered Vulnerable. The hedleyi subspecies, whose territory includes most of eastern Australia, is considered Near Threatened. The iredalei subspecies is also considered Vulnerable.

The thornbill (iredalei subspecies) is extinct in northern Australia, and is considered the only indigenous species to have become extinct in that location since European settlement.

Victoria

• The Slender-billed Thornbill (A. i. hedleyi) is listed as threatened on the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988. Under this Act, an Action Statement for the recovery and future management of this species has not been prepared.

• On the 2007 advisory list of threatened vertebrate fauna in Victoria, this species is listed as Near Threatened.

>Acanthiza inornata (Western Thornbill)

Western Thornbill

Western Thornbill
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Pardalotidae
Genus:	Acanthiza
Species:	A. inornata
Binomial name
Acanthiza inornata Gould, 1841

The Western Thornbill (Acanthiza inornata) is a species of bird in the Pardalotidae family. It isendemic to Australia.

Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.

>Acanthiza ewingii (Tasmanian Thornbill)

Tasmanian Thornbill

Tasmanian Thornbill
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Pardalotidae
Genus:	Acanthiza
Species:	A. ewingii
Binomial name
Acanthiza ewingii Gould, 1844

The Tasmanian Thornbill (Acanthiza ewingii) is a small brown bird only found in Tasmania and the islands in the Bass Strait. It is a common bird in these regions, often found in rainforests, wetforests, and scrublands. It occurs exclusively in cold and wet areas. Its diet revolves primarily around small insects, which it scrounges up and feeds on close to the ground^.

Averaging 10 centimeters in length, the Tasmanian Thornbill is a small bird. Primarily light brown in coloration, the bird has a white undertail and a grey-streaked breast. There is no significant coloration or size differentiation between sexes.

The Tasmanian Thornbill has been assessed as a secure species, and its current status is listed as "Least Concern".

>Acanthiza chrysorrhoa (Yellow-rumped Thornbill)

Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Yellow-rumped Thornbill
In Canberra, Australia
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Acanthizidae
Genus:	Acanthiza
Species:	A. chrysorrhoa
Binomial name
Acanthiza chrysorrhoa (Quoy & Gaimard, 1830)
Subspecies
A. c. chrysorrhoa A. c. leachi A. c. leighi A. c. normantoni
Distribution of the Yellow-rumped Thornbill

The Yellow-rumped Thornbill (Acanthiza chrysorrhoa) is a species of passerine bird from thegenus Acanthiza. The genus was once placed in the family Pardalotidae but that family was split and it is now in the family Acanthizidae. There are four subspecies of Yellow-rumped Thornbill. It is a small, brownish bird with a distinctive yellow rump and thin dark bill. It inhabits savannah, scrub and forests across most of Australia and eats insects. The species engages in cooperative breeding.

Taxonomy

The Yellow-rumped Thornbill was described as Saxicola chrysorrhoa by the French naturalists Jean René Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard in 1830, from a specimen collected in King George Sound. Its specific epithet is derived from the Ancient Greek chryso- "golden", and orrhos "rump" or "sacral region". Four subspecies are recognised; the nominate chrysorrhoa of Western Australia, leachi of Tasmania, leighi of eastern Australia, and normantoni of central and northern Australia. Butterbum is a colloquial name used by Australian birdwatchers.

Description

The Yellow-rumped Thornbill is the largest species of thornbill, 9.5–12 cm (4–5 in) long and weighing 9 g (0.32 oz). It has a short tail and a long slender bill. The species has a distinctive yellow rump, a black forehead with white spots, grey head and neck, a white line above the eye and white throat. The belly is white with light buff below the wings. The wings are grey and the tail is black. The plumage varies somewhat dependent of subspecies.

Voice

The Yellow-rumped Thornbill has a distinctive song described as "twittering, musical, sweet, high-pitched". The species is also reported to be an accomplished mimic of other birds, in particular mimicking the alarm calls of the Noisy Miner.

Distribution and habitat

The species has a wide distribution across western, southern and eastern Australia as well asTasmania; it is absent from the north coast of Western Australia, parts of central Australia, northern Queensland and central and northern Northern Territory. The species inhabits a wide range of habitats, including open forest and woodland, grasslands, savannah as scrubland.

Feeding

The Yellow-rumped Thornbill is insectivorous; major prey items include ants, beetles, bugs andlerps.Other items eaten include spiders, flies and seeds. The species usually forages in small groups of between 3-12 individuals, and may join mixed species-flocks with other small insectivorous passerines such as the Speckled Warbler (Chthonicola sagittatus), Weebill (Smicrornis brevirostris), and other species of thornbill.

Breeding

Tamborine, SE Queensland, Australia

Breeding takes place from July to December, with one, two or even more broods a year. Nesting usually occurs as a pair, but sometimes one to three helpers will assist the breeding pair. The nest is a messy dome-shaped structure made of dried grass and other vegetation hidden low down among dense foliage or shrubs, or sometimes in vines or mistletoe. Atop the dome is a cup-shaped depression which serves as a false nest, while the real nest is inside with a concealed entrance. Three or four white oval eggs sometimes marked with pale red-brown measure 18 x 13 mm.The female incubates the clutch, and the clutch takes around 16–18 days to hatch. On hatching both parents help feed the brood. The nestling period is around 19 days. The species is parasitised by the Shining Bronze Cuckoo and the Fan-tailed Cuckoo. Many species of bird take eggs and chicks from the nest, including Red Wattlebirds, currawongs, Australian Magpies and ravens, and many honeyeaters will destroy their nests in order to steal nesting material. Ringing studies have found that the species can live for up to nine years