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17

Pilotbird (Pycnoptilus floccosus) Alternate name(s): "Downy Pycnoptilus", "Guinea-a-week" Size: 16.5-17.5 cm Weight: 25-39 g

Australia: Family Group 17 Family Group 17 Table Spotted Pardalote Forty-spotted Pardalote Red-browed Pardalote Striated Pardalote Large-billed Scrubwren White-browed Scrubwren Tasmanian Scrubwren Yellow-throated Scrubwren Pilotbird Rock Warbler Chestnut-rumped Heathwren Shy Heathwren Striated Fieldwren Rufous Fieldwren Scrubtit Speckled Warbler Redthroat Western Gerygone Brown Gerygone Mangrove 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 Southern Whiteface Chestnut-breasted 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 Pilotbirds are small birds found in bushland on Hawkesbury sandstone. Their plumage is very inconspicuous, especially on leaf litter. The back, from the cap to the tail, including the wings, is greyish-brown. The front, from the frons via eye-rings, throat, chest, belly to the vent, is scalloped grey-brown with lighter brown. The irises are red, the bill is dark-grey, the legs and feet are grey.

Taxonomy, classification See Pilotbird 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 Pilotbird is available HERE . Pilotbirds are endemic to the far south-eastern part of the Australian continent. There are two races. Nominate race "floccosus" is found in alpine areas of NSW/VIC (to the South of Canberra, ACT) only, whereas race "sandlandi" populates low-land areas from the Hunter River, NSW, in the North to Melbourne, VIC, in the South. In East-West direction their range is limited by the breadth of the Great Dividing Range. Pilotbirds have a preference for temperate wet forest and temperate rainforest, on Hawkesbury sandstone, where they usually stay in litter, often in damp gullies.

Sightings Click here for sighting information B. Hensen reports spotting a Pilotbird, race "sandlandi", on the Evan's Lookout Road, Blackheath, NSW, in April 2014. R. Plumtree reports spotting a Pilotbird, race "sandlandi", in close company with a Superb Lyrebird, near Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, in May 2014, in October 2014, and at Mt. Nunniong, East Gippsland, VIC, in August 2018.

Photos

Race "sandlandi"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Pilotbird (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Near Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, May 2014]

Frontal view of a Pilotbird on Hawkesbury Sandstone (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Blackheath, NSW, April 2014]

Frontal view of a Pilotbird (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Off Wong Log Road, Mt. Nunniong, East Gippsland, VIC, August 2018]

Near-frontal view of a Pilotbird (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Off Wong Log Road, Mt. Nunniong, East Gippsland, VIC, August 2018]

Near-frontal view of a Pilotbird fluttering its wings (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Off Wong Log Road, Mt. Nunniong, East Gippsland, VIC, August 2018]

Near-lateral view of a Pilotbird (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Off Wong Log Road, Mt. Nunniong, East Gippsland, VIC, August 2018]

Lateral view of a Pilotbird; note how, characteristically, the bird carries its tail cocked (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Off Wong Log Road, Mt. Nunniong, East Gippsland, VIC, August 2018]

Lateral view of a Pilotbird (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Off Wong Log Road, Mt. Nunniong, East Gippsland, VIC, August 2018]

Dorsal/ventral view of a Pilotbird with its tail cocked (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Off Wong Log Road, Mt. Nunniong, East Gippsland, VIC, August 2018]

Food, Diet

This Pilotbird has found something interesting and is scraping the ground to expose it (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Off Wong Log Road, Mt. Nunniong, East Gippsland, VIC, August 2018]

Some more digging is required... (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Off Wong Log Road, Mt. Nunniong, East Gippsland, VIC, August 2018]

... before the Pilotbird got its prey (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Off Wong Log Road, Mt. Nunniong, East Gippsland, VIC, August 2018]

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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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, 6 July 2020, 1:14 +00:00