17

Brown Thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla) Alternate name(s): "Brown Tit", "Scrub Thornbill" Size: 9.5-10.5 cm Body mass: 5-8 g

Australia: Family Group 17 Family Group 17 Table Spotted Pardalote Forty-spotted Pardalote Red-browed Pardalote Striated Pardalote Large-billed Scrubwren Atherton Scrubwren White-browed Scrubwren Spotted Scrubwren Tasmanian Scrubwren Yellow-throated Scrubwren Pilotbird Rock Warbler Chestnut-rumped Heathwren Shy Heathwren Striated Fieldwren Rufous Fieldwren Fernwren Scrubtit Speckled Warbler Redthroat Western Gerygone Brown Gerygone Mangrove Gerygone Dusky Gerygone Large-billed Gerygone Green-backed Gerygone Fairy Gerygone White-throated Gerygone Weebill Yellow Thornbill Striated Thornbill Buff-rumped Thornbill Yellow-rumped Thornbill Western Thornbill Slender-billed Thornbill Chestnut-rumped Thornbill Brown Thornbill Inland Thornbill Slaty-backed Thornbill Tasmanian Thornbill Mountain Thornbill Southern Whiteface Chestnut-breasted Whiteface Banded Whiteface 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 Brown Thornbills are very small birds found in dense forest. The forehead and the sides of the head are freckled (the forehead pale-buff on rufous-brown, the sides dark-grey on white). The front (throat and chest) is heavily streaked dark-grey on white, the striation continuing into the cinnamon-coloured belly. The vent is also cinnamon, the flanks are rufous. The back is greyish rufous-brown, with a cinnamon-brown rump and a brown tail that has a black end with a thin grey terminal band. The irises are red, the bill is dark-grey. The legs and feet are pinkish-grey.

Taxonomy, classification See Brown Thornbill 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 Brown Thornbill is available HERE . Brown Thornbills are endemic to Australia. There are in total six races of Brown Thornbills - for details see a field guide. Overall they populate the coastal fringe of the Australian East and South-East coast, from about Townsville, QLD, to the VIC/SA border. There is an isolated population in the Adelaide, SA, area. Nominate race "pusilla", which is found in coastal VIC, NSW and South QLD, can extend its range far inland, to encompass basically all of VIC and half the East-West width of NSW (where they are likely to hybridize with Inland Thornbills). Race "dawsonensis" is found along the coast of central QLD, from about Bundaberg to the Burdekin River. Race "zeitzi" is found exclusively on Kangaroo Island, SA. Race "diemenensis" is present in northern and eastern Tasmania (and Flinders Island), whereas race "archibaldi" exists only on King Island (in the Bass Strait). Brown Thornbills can be found in the undergrowth of various types of forest and woodland.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "pusilla" Brown Thornbills, nominate race "pusilla", (with buffy yellow underparts) were first spotted by us in November 2006 near Ebor Falls, in northern NSW. I. Duncan reports spotting Brown Thornbills, race "pusilla", at South West Rocks, NSW, in September 2011 and at Shepherd's Bush Park, Glen Waverley in suburban Melbourne, in March 2012. Brown Thornbills, race "pusilla", are seen by us regularly in littoral rainforest in various locations along the NSW coastline, e.g. at the mouth of the Manning River, near Old Bar, NSW, in September 2011 and at Manning Point, NSW, in July 2013. R. Plumtree reports spotting Brown Thornbills, race "pusilla", occasionally near Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC. A. Ross-Taylor reports spotting Brown Thornbills, race "pusilla", at Stanthorpe, southern inland QLD, in March 2015. We also spotted them in nearby Girraween NP in January 2017. We have seen Brown Thornbills, race "pusilla", at Ferntree Gully Environmental Reserve, near Rylstone, NSW, where they were spotted in December 2016 and, together with M. Eaton, along the upper Goulburn River, in Goulburn River NP, near Ulan, NSW, where they were found building nests in June 2022. Together with V. Collins, we also found Brown Thornbills, race "pusilla", at the Burrendong Arboretum in June 2021. This location is at the far-western boundary of their distribution. M. Eaton reports finding Brown Thornbills, race "pusilla", breeding at Queen Mary Falls, QLD, in August 2017. They have subsequently been observed in other, near-coastal parts of SE QLD. Race "diemenensis" B. Hensen reports spotting Brown Thornbills, race "diemenensis", on Bruny Island, TAS, in March 2016. Race "zeitzi" J. Greaves reports spotting Brown Thornbills, race "zeitzi", at Seal Bay, Kangaroo Island, SA, in March 2016.

Photos

Race "pusilla"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Brown Thornbill on the ground (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, July 2016]

Frontal view of a Brown Thornbill (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Queen Mary Falls, QLD, August 2017]

Near-frontal view of a Brown Thornbill
[Girraween NP, QLD, January 2017]

Near-lateral view of a Brown Thornbill issuing its call (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, November 2019]

Near-lateral view of a Brown Thornbill (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, November 2019]

Near-lateral view of a Brown Thornbill hanging head-down
[Manning Point, NSW, July 2013]

Near-lateral view of a Brown Thornbill (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Stanthorpe, QLD, March 2015]

Partly obscured near-lateral/ventral view of a Brown Thornbill
[Manning Point, NSW, July 2013]

Lateral view of a Brown Thornbill looking towards the observer
[Ferntree Gully Environmental Reserve, near Rylstone, NSW, December 2016]

Lateral view of a Brown Thornbill looking towards the observer (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay, East Gippsland, VIC, November 2019]

Lateral view of a Brown Thornbill hanging off a branch (photo courtesy of I. Duncan)
[Shepherd's Bush Park, Melbourne, VIC, March 2012]

Lateral view of a Brown Thornbill
[Ferntree Gully Environmental Reserve, near Rylstone, NSW, December 2016]

Lateral view of a Brown Thornbill
[Girraween NP, QLD, January 2017]

Lateral view of a Brown Thornbill (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, July 2016]

Lateral/ventral view of a Brown Thornbill (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Stanthorpe, QLD, March 2015]

Close-up lateral/ventral view of a Brown Thornbill looking away from the observer
[Girraween NP, QLD, January 2017]

Near-dorsal view of a Brown Thornbill (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, July 2016]

Brown Thornbill hanging upside down (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Cassilis, Swifts Creek, VIC, September 2016]

Ventral view of a Brown Thornbill
[Girraween NP, QLD, January 2017]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Near-frontal/ventral view of a juvenile Brown Thornbill
[Near Old Bar, NSW, September 2011]

Lateral view of a juvenile Brown Thornbill (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Cape Conran Nature Reserve, VIC, November 2016]

Lateral/ventral view of a juvenile Brown Thornbill
[Near Old Bar, NSW, September 2011]

Near-lateral view of a fledgling Brown Thornbill (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, January 2013]

Near-lateral view of a fledgling Brown Thornbill (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, January 2013]

Race "diemenensis"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Near-frontal view of a Brown Thornbill (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bruny Island, TAS, March 2016]

Lateral view of a Brown Thornbill (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bruny Island, TAS, March 2016]

Near-dorsal view of a Brown Thornbill (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bruny Island, TAS, March 2016]

Dorsal view of a Brown Thornbill (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bruny Island, TAS, March 2016]

Race "zeitzi"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Brown Thornbill (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Seal Bay, Kangaroo Island, SA, March 2016]

Near-frontal view of a Brown Thornbill (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Seal Bay, Kangaroo Island, SA, March 2016]

Near-lateral view of a Brown Thornbill (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Seal Bay, Kangaroo Island, SA, March 2016]

Lateral view of a Brown Thornbill (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Seal Bay, Kangaroo Island, SA, March 2016]

Lateral view of a Brown Thornbill (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Seal Bay, Kangaroo Island, SA, March 2016]

Near-lateral view of a Brown Thornbill issuing its call (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Seal Bay, Kangaroo Island, SA, March 2016]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Aug - Dec

Eggs: 2 - 3

Incubation period: 17 - 20 days

Fledging age: 15 - 16 days

Nest building: Female & male

Incubation: Female

Dependent care: Female & male

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Dome

Material: Grass stems, bark strips, fern fronds, webs

Height above ground: 0.2 - 2(?) m

Brown Thornbill nest low above the ground, inside a prickly shrub (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Queen Mary Falls, QLD, August 2017]

One of the owners of the Brown Thornbill nest shown above (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Queen Mary Falls, QLD, August 2017]

Brown Thornbill nest that is still under construction (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Goulburn River NP, NSW, June 2022]

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 16 x 12 mm

Colour: Creamy, with light- to mid-brown speckles

Shape: Tapered oval

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Sedentary/dispersive

Elementary unit: Family clan

We have repeatedly seen Brown Thornbills moving around with a mixed flock also including Yellow Thornbills.

Food, Diet

Like several other species of the Acanthiza family, Brown Thornbills hunt for small insects in low shrubs and bushes.

Lateral view of a Brown Thornbill with its prey, a juicy caterpillar (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Moggill Reserve, QLD, April 2018]

Brown Thornbill with its prey (photo courtesy of I. Duncan)
[South West Rocks, NSW, September 2011]

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.

Brown Thornbills have regional variations in their calls.

brthbil_20160314.mp3	pusilla (S QLD)	Contact calls?	© MD
brthbil_20160314_2.mp3	pusilla (S QLD)	Contact calls?	© MD
brthbil_20150611_3.m4a	pusilla (E NSW)	Territorial call?	© MD
brthbil_20150611_2.mp3	pusilla (E NSW)	Territorial calls?	© MD
brthbil_20220630.m4a	pusilla (Ctl W NSW)	Territorial calls? (+ Striated Thornbill)	© MD
brthbil_20170606.m4a	pusilla (SE QLD)	Territorial dispute(?) with mimicry (White-browed Scrubwren)	© MD
brthbil_20220630_2.m4a	pusilla (Ctl W NSW)	Various	© MD
brthbil_20150620_3.mp3	pusilla (N NSW)	Various	© MD
brthbil_20150620.m4a	pusilla (N NSW)	Various	© MD
brthbil_20150620_4.m4a	pusilla (N NSW)	Various	© MD
brthbil_20150620_2.m4a	pusilla (N NSW)	?	© MD

More Brown Thornbill 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.

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