Alternative names: Chestnut-breasted Groundbird; Chestnut-breasted Babbling-thrush; Black-vented Ground-thrush
- Cinclosoma castaneothorax
Includes Western Quail-thrush
Identification
21 - 25cm.
Male:
- Warm olive-brown upperparts
- Rich cinnamon-yellow upper breast, reddish-brown in marginatum
- Face pattern like other Quail-thrushes, white eyebrow, broad white streak on side of black throat, rest greyish-brown
- Castaneothorax with more chestnut upperparts, marginatum darker olive-brown
- Black lower breast, cinnamon-yellow flanks, black line between flanks and white belly, broken in castaneothorax
Female:
- Like female of Cinnamon Quail-thrush but with rufous wash on grey breast
Distribution
Found in Australia.
Marginatum common, nominate uncommon.
Taxonomy
There are 2 subspecies:
- C. c. castaneothorax in east Australia (Central Queensland south to north-central New South Wales)
- C. c. marginatum in central Western Australia, southwest Northern Territory and extreme northwest South Australia
Marginatum (also called Western Quail-thrush and sometimes considered a full species) was in the past considered to be a subspecies of Cinnamon Quail-thrush. The subspecies alisteri of the latter was then included in this species.
Habitat
Stony hills with scrubby vegetation. Prefers low acacia-covered ridges.
Behaviour
Feeds on insects, spiders and seeds.
Forages on the ground, slowly walking. Elusive and shy.
Breeding season variable, does not breed at all in drought. The nest is a loose bowl of grass, leaves and twigs placed on the ground under a tree or shrub. Lays 2 eggs.
Resident species with some local dispersal according to rainfall.
References
- Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2007. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553422
- Simpson, K and N Day. 1998. Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7136-4877-5
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Chestnut-breasted_Quail-thrush
