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Mangrove Gerygone (Gerygone levigaster) Alternate name(s): "Buff-breasted Warbler", "Mangrove Flyeater", "Mangrove Warbler"; misnomer: "Queensland Canary" Size: 10-11 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 Mangrove Gerygones are very small birds found in intertidal wetlands. Their front is light-grey from the throat to the undertail coverts, while the back is darker brownish-grey, with dark-grey flight feathers and a dark-grey tail. They have prominent white eyebrows above eyes with red irises. The bill and lores are dark-grey, while the legs and feet are grey. Twitcher's tip Compared to Brown Gerygones, Mangrove Gerygones have a lighter, more greyish front. Compared to Large-billed Gerygones, Mangrove Gerygones have a much more prominent eyebrow.

Taxonomy, classification See Mangrove Gerygone 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 Mangrove Gerygone is available HERE . Mangrove Gerygones are found only in Australia and in southern New Guinea. There are two races of Mangrove Gerygones in Australia. Nominate race "levigaster" resides on the northern coastal fringe, from about Broome, WA, in the West to Cape Melville, QLD, in the East (including several offshore islands). The range of endemic race "cantator" extends from the Hunter estuary in NSW, up to about Cairns, QLD. Farther North, towards Cape Melville, their distribution is uncertain. Mangrove Gerygones have a preference for mangroves, but they can also be found in gardens.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "levigaster" B. Hensen reports spotting Mangrove Gerygones, nominate race "levigaster", at Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, in March 2013. H. Mouritsen spotted two Mangrove Gerygones, nominate race "levigaster", near Darwin, NT, in October 2015. P. Brown reports finding a Mangrove Gerygone, nominate race "levigaster", semi-regularly in and around Darwin, NT. Race "cantator" Together with A. Ross-Taylor we spotted a Mangrove Gerygone, race "cantator", at the Coombabah Lakelands Conservation Area, Gold Coast, QLD, in May 2014. Several Mangrove Gerygones, race "cantator", were also found by us at Urunga Heads, northern NSW, in March 2015. B. Kinross reports spotting Mangrove Gerygones, race "cantator", on the edges of an intertidal wetland at Beachmere, QLD, semi-regularly. In December 2016 we found a Mangrove Gerygone, race "cantator", in Hunter Wetlands NP, Newcastle, which is at the southern end of the species' range. M. Eaton reports spotting a Mangrove Gerygone, race "cantator", at Wynnum Wetlands, Brisbane, QLD, in August 2017, and at Brunswick Heads, QLD, in January 2019. Another was found at Paluma Rainforest, near Townsville, QLD, in September 2020. In November 2020 J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours found Mangrove Gerygones, race "cantator", at both Arundel, Gold Coast, QLD, and at Boondall Wetlands Reserve, Brisbane, QLD.

Photos

Race "levigaster"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Mangrove Gerygone (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Near Dripstone Cliffs, Darwin, NT, December 2017]

Frontal/ventral view of a Mangrove Gerygone (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, March 2013]

Near-lateral/ventral view of a Mangrove Gerygone (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[East Point Reserve, Darwin, NT, September 2018]

Near-lateral/ventral view of a preening Mangrove Gerygone (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[East Point Reserve, Darwin, NT, September 2018]

Lateral view of a Mangrove Gerygone; this is the bird whose calls were recorded on 25 September 2019
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Buffalo Creek, Darwin, NT, September 2019]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of a juvenile Mangrove Gerygone (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Buffalo Creek, Darwin, NT, October 2020]

Near-frontal view of a juvenile Mangrove Gerygone; note the yellow supercilium and orange base of the bill
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Buffalo Creek, Darwin, NT, October 2020]

Near-frontal view of a juvenile Mangrove Gerygone; note the yellow supercilium and orange base of the bill
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Buffalo Creek, Darwin, NT, October 2020]

Race "cantator"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Mangrove Gerygone (photo courtesy of B. Kinross)
[Beachmere, QLD, March 2015]

Frontal/ventral view of a Mangrove Gerygone (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Paluma Rainforest, near Townsville, QLD, September 2020]

Near-lateral view of a Mangrove Gerygone (photo courtesy of B. Kinross)
[Beachmere, QLD, March 2015]

Close-up lateral view of a Mangrove Gerygone (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Arundel, QLD, November 2020]

Lateral view of a Mangrove Gerygone (photo courtesy of B. Kinross)
[Beachmere, QLD, March 2015]

Lateral view of a Mangrove Gerygone looking away from the observer (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Wynnum Wetlands, Brisbane, QLD, August 2017]

Near-dorsal view of a Mangrove Gerygone (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, March 2013]

Dorsal view of a Mangrove Gerygone (photo courtesy of B. Kinross)
[Beachmere, QLD, March 2015]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Sedentary

Elementary unit: Solitary/pair

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.

Some species of gerygones have very elaborate, long calls that they tend to sometimes abbreviate. When, below, we mark a call as "abbreviated", this does not mean to say that the recording is incomplete, but that the bird rendered only a partial (or abbreviated) call.

mangery_pb_20190925.m4a	levigaster (Top End, NT)	Territorial calls	© PB
mangery_pb_20180831.m4a	levigaster (Top End, NT)	Territorial call	© PB
mangery_me_20260706.m4a	levigaster (W NT)	Territorial call	© ME
mangery_pb_20200415.m4a	levigaster (Darwin, NT)	Territorial calls (distant)	© PB
mangery_art_20140603.m4a	cantator (SE QLD)	Territorial calls	© ART
mangery_20150813.m4a	cantator (E NSW)	Territorial call?	© MD
mangery_20140523.mp3	cantator (SE QLD)	Territorial call? (abbreviated)	© MD
mangery_art_20140306_2.mp3	cantator (SE QLD)	Pair Q&A	© ART
mangery_20160921.m4a	cantator (NE NSW)	?	© MD
mangery_20150327.m4a	cantator (NE NSW)	? (immature?)	© MD
mangery_20150327_2.m4a	cantator (NE NSW)	? (immature?)	© MD
mangery_20161208.mp3	cantator (E NSW)	?	© MD

More Mangrove Gerygone 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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