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Slaty-backed Thornbill
(Acanthiza robustirostris)
: "Robust Thornbill", "Thick-billed Thornbill", "Robust-billed Thornbill"
Size: 9-10 cm
Weight: 5-7 g
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Similar
species |
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Physical description |
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 Click here for a physical description
Slaty-backed Thornbills are very small bushland birds. Their
forehead is striated black-on-grey, while the rest of the front
(from the throat down to the undertail coverts) creamy-white.
The cap and nape of the neck are slate-grey, while the wings are
darker grey and the tail even darker grey, with a thin lighter
terminal band. The rump is cinnamon-coloured. The cheeks are
whitish with grey specks. The irises are reddish-brown; the bill,
legs and feet are dark-grey.
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Twitcher's tip |
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Slaty-backed Thornbills have no striation on the front, which
distinguishes them from the heavily streaked
Inland Thornbills.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Slaty-backed
Thornbill at Wikipedia  .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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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
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The global distribution of the Slaty-backed Thornbill is available
HERE
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NB:
Reports on ebird of birds submitted by birdwatchers from
the Australian Outback tend to be clustered along roads
and public areas such as camp grounds; in such cases their
distribution is not a good representation of the overall
distribution of the species.
Slaty-backed Thornbills are endemic to Australia.
They are found only in the red centre of the Australian continent,
including some of the most arid parts. Their range extends from
central inland WA, off the coast at geographical latitudes between
the tropic of Capricorn and about that of Geraldton, WA, across
the border with the southern NT and northern SA, to the western
side of Lake Eyre. Further North, there is a finger-shaped
extension to their range through the southern NT, into western
QLD to the South of Mt. Isa, into central QLD.
Slaty-backed Thornbills can be found in semi-arid to arid inland plains
with mulga-dominated
scrub.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
M. Eaton reports spotting a Slaty-backed Thornbill at Alice Springs,
NT, in June 2023.
All sighting and photographic information presented on this page
has been kindly contributed by M. Eaton.
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Photos |
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ADULT |
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Near-lateral view of a Slaty-backed(?) Thornbill; the dark iris excludes
Chestnut-rumped Thornbill,
while the absence of frontal streaking excludes
Inland Thornbill
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Alice Springs, NT, June 2023]
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Food, Diet |
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To the best of our knowledge all thornbills feed primarily on small insects.
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.
Breeding
Nest
Eggs
Behaviour
Call/s
