- Sericornis frontalis
Identification
10·5–15 cm (4-6 in)
- Dark olive-brown upperparts
- Buffy grey throat
- Dull rufous flanks, belly and rump
- White line above and below the eye
- Black around the eye between the lines, becoming greyer near the ear
- Light cream eye
Sexes similar; females slightly duller, particularly on the face.
Distribution
Coastal eastern Australia: found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia.
Taxonomy
Spotted Scrubwren was formerly included in this species.
Subspecies
Six subspecies are recognized[1]:
- S. f. laevigaster: Disjunct in eastern Queensland (Atherton Tableland to Burnett River)
- S. f. tweedi: Eastern New South Wales (Queensland border to Hunter River)
- S. f. frontalis: South-eastern Australia (central New South Wales to southern Victoria and south-eastern South Australia)
- S. f. harterti: Southern Victoria (Otway Peninsula to Strzelecki Range)
- S. f. rosinae: South Australia (Mount Lofty Range to Fleurieu Peninsula)
- S. f. flindersi: Flinders Island and adjacent islands in Bass Strait
Habitat
Dense undergrowth in rainforest, open forest, woodland and heaths, disturbed areas, etc.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet consists of arthropods, especially insects, with the addition of some seeds and fruit.
Vocalisation
Sings rapids bursts of variable, multinote song. Each male has usually more than one song and neighbors may not sing identically.
Breeding
The breeding season is reported to be all year, but mainly August to January. The nest is a large grass ball with other plant material incorporated placed near the ground in thick vegetation. It has a side entrance tunnel leading to a feather-lined cup. The clutch consists of 2-3 pale blue to pale purple eggs, spotted with brown at the base. There may be several broods each year.
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/
- Avibase
- Birds in Backyards
- Gregory, P. (2022). White-browed Scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis), version 1.1. 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.whbscr1.01.1
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) White-browed Scrubwren. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 25 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/White-browed_Scrubwren
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
