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Rockwarbler - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by Joe Cockram
Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia, July 2006

Alternative name: Origma

Origma solitaria

Identification

Dark brown-grey, cinnamon-tinged face and forehead, dull white throat speckled black, reddish-brown underparts, and a black tail, which is often flicked sideways, dark grey-brown wings. Young birds are similar to adults but duller.

Distribution

Coastal New South Wales, Australia.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species1.

Habitat

Rocky outcrops, in steep rocky gullies and usually near water, including along sea-cliffs in coastal areas.

Behaviour

Diet

Their main diet consists of insects and sometimes seeds. They forage on the ground and in low branches, probing for insects in rock crevices, in caves and under ledges.

Breeding

The nest site is usually in a sandstone (occasionally limestone or granite) cave, in total or near-darkness and is re-used each year. It builds a suspended dome-shaped nest from roots, moss, grass and bark bound together with spider webs, with a round side entrance that is sometimes hooded. The inner nest chamber is lined with soft materials, including feathers, fur, grasses and plant down. Both parents feed the young, which stay with the adults for some time after fledging.

Sometimes parasitised by Fan-tailed Cuckoo.

Flight

Members of the Acanthizidae family have a characteristic undulating flight path.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/

Recommended Citation

External Links

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1

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