- Pyrrholaemus brunneus
Identification
11-12cm Male:
- Forehead and Lores White
- Mid Grey-brown Back
- Tail Brown, but outer corners tipped white
- Cinnamon Orange throat
- Undertail Buff to Russet
- White Underbelly
- Underbelly merges into grey-buff on Flanks
Female:
- Similar to Male, lacking Orange Throat.
- Immature Similar, slightly paler.
Distribution
Australia, Found throughout much of Interior Australia, South Western Australia, South-west Nothern Teritory, Much of South Australia, Mallee Regions of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Sedentary, Uncommon to Moderately Common.
Taxonomy
Structural similarities to Chthonicola sagittatus suggest that they are closely related. Monotypic.
Habitat
Semi-arid Eucalypt Forest, Mulga and Mallee with scattered low shrubs, saltbush and bluebush.
Behaviour
Forages briskly on the ground, generally in sparse low shrub.
Smooth low flight with fanned tail.
Breeding
It builds a bulky, dome-shaped nests with a side entrance from strips of bark, grass and feathers.
Diet
The diet includes beetles, ants, termites, earwigs, grasshoppers, bugs, caterpillars, butterflies, moths, wasps and spiders, and grass seeds.
Call
Sharp, clear whistled notes, alternated with harsh chattering. whit-whit-chee-chee-quorr-quorr ect.
