- Sericornis maculatus
Identification
10-15 cm, a variable species.
- Upperside with olive-brown
- Wings show black around alula but also white feather edges forming a white wing bar in the same area. Additionally, a pale panel of whitish primary edges
- Crown and rear of side of head grey
- Mask around lores and eye black to dark grey
- Narrow white supercilium bordered above by black line
- Stripe below mask white
- Throat and upper breast white with black spots or streaks
- Lower breast and belly buff, black spots and streaks on upper parts and continuing onto flanks
Females and even more so juveniles less strongly patterned, especially in the head.
Photo © by Delia Todd
Little Grove, Albany, Western Australia, 14 November 2019
Variation
Geographic/subspecies variation include upperside color being very grey to being darker than above, underside being greyer than above or with brown spreading onto flanks, etc.
Distribution
Australia: Western Australia and South Australia.
Taxonomy
This species was formerly included in White-browed Scrubwren.
Subspecies
Four subspecies are recognized[1].
- S. f. balstoni: Central Western Australia (Geraldton to Shark Bay; Houtman Abrolhos)
- S. f. mellori: Southwestern Australia (southern Western Australia east along coast to southeastern South Australia)
- S. f. maculatus: South-western Western Australia
- S. f. ashbyi: Kangaroo Island (South Australia)
Habitat
Dense scrub and undergrowth in a variety of wooded settings, including disturbed areas with plantations, parks and gardens. May prefer areas with water.
Behaviour
Small invertebrates and some seeds and fruit or berries.
Vocalisation
Sings rapids bursts of variable, multinote song. Each male has usually more than one song and neighbors may not sing identically.
References
- 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/
- Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2023. IOC World Bird List (v 13.1)_red. Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.13.1. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- Gregory, P. (2022). Spotted Scrubwren (Sericornis maculatus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman and N. D. Sly, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.whbscr3.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Spotted Scrubwren. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 15 October 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Spotted_Scrubwren
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
