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15

Rufous Scrub-bird (Atrichornis rufescens) Size: 17-19 cm (male), 16-17 cm (female) Weight: 24 g (average)

Australia: Family Group 15 Family Group 15 Table Noisy Pitta Rainbow Pitta Superb Lyrebird Albert's Lyrebird Noisy Scrub-bird Rufous Scrub-bird Rufous Bristlebird Western Bristlebird Black-tailed Treecreeper Red-browed Treecreeper White-browed Treecreeper Brown Treecreeper Rufous Treecreeper White-throated Treecreeper Hoopoe Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Rufous Scrub-birds are well-camouflaged, robin-sized birds. They are dimorphic, i.e. males and females have slightly different plumages. Male Rufous Scrub-birds have a grey-brown head, back and tail, with a mottled black chin to upper chest and upper flanks, white malar stripes extending down the sides of the patchy front. The lower chest, belly and vent are rufous. Female Rufous Scrub-birds have a grey throat with white malar stripes by its sides and a pale-rufous chest. There is basically no black on their underparts. Otherwise they are very similar to males. Both sexes are finely barred all over, which tends to be hard to see in the field. The irises are dark. The bill has a dark upper mandible and a pale lower mandible. Legs and feet are light-grey. Juveniles resemble females, but with duller colours and without white malar stripes.

Taxonomy, classification See Rufous Scrub-bird at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Rufous Scrub-bird is available HERE . Rufous Scrub-birds have a very restricted range - they are endemic to parts of the eastern side of the Great Dividing Range, from just to the North of the Hunter River in NSW, namely Barrington Tops NP, to near the border of NSW and QLD, prominently Lamington NP, QLD. Their range is now restricted to two small areas, which makes them vulnerable to total destruction by wildfires. Nominate race "rufescens" is still present on the eastern slopes from Lamington NP, QLD, to Gibraltar Range NP, to the West of Grafton, NSW. Race "ferrieri" resides along the eastern slopes from New England NP, westward of Coffs Harbour, NSW, to Barrington Tops NP, to the North of the Hunter estuary near Newcastle, NSW. Rufous Scrub-birds have a preference for dense vegetation with copious leaf litter, as found primarily in gullies in rainforest. The destruction of their habitats in low-lying parts of their range has forced them into higher-altitude parts of suitable environments, ranging between 300 m to 1000 m in altitude, on the eastern side of the Great Dividing Range.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "ferrieri" M. Eaton reports finding a Rufous Scrub-bird, race "ferrieri", at Gloucester Tops, Barrington Tops NP, NSW, in December 2019. All sighting and audio information presented on this page has been kindly contributed by M. Eaton.

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

rufscrb_me_20191205.m4a

ferrieri (Barrington Tops NP, NSW)

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© ME

More Rufous Scrubbird sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.

Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Mon, 4 January 2021, 3:13 +00:00