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17

Slender-billed Thornbill (Acanthiza iredalei) Alternate name(s): "Slender Thornbill", "Dark Thornbill", "Samphire Thornbill" Size: 9-10 cm Weight: 5-7 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 Slender-billed Thornbills are very small bushland birds. Their plumage is very inconspicuous. Their forehead is lightly scalloped brown-on-grey. The throat is light-grey, while the rest of the front is cinnamon-grey. Only race "rosinae" has a somewhat darker front. The sides of the head are faintly scalloped brownish-grey. The upperparts are brownish-grey, with darker brown-grey flight and tail feathers. They have a small pale-buff rump patch that is hard to see when the wings are folded. The irises are light-grey; the slender bill, legs and feet are dark-grey to black.

Taxonomy, classification See Slender-billed 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 Slender-billed Thornbill is available HERE . 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. Slender-billed Thornbills are endemic to Australia. Originally found over much of the Australian continent, their distribution is now reduced to parts of southern and western Australia, from about Exmouth, WA, in the West, to the of SA with VIC in the East. There are 3 extant races. Nominate race "iredalei" is the most widespread, with a patchy distribution ranging from ca. Exmouth, WA, inland, towards southern SA. In southern WA, they are NOT found in the range of the Western Thornbill, i.e., south-western part of the state, southward of about Geraldton and westward of about Kalgoorlie. The range of race "iredalei" does include the area from about Esperance, WA, towards southern SA, including the Nullarbor. In SA they are only found in the southern-most, near-coastal parts, up to about Bimbowrie Conservation Park in the East, but excluding the tip of Eyre peninsula. Race "rosinae" has a very limited range around the Gulf St. Vincent. Most are found in an area from Port Wakefield, SA, to Adelaide, SA. The third race, "hedleyi", is now restricted to a small area near the border region of SA with VIC, in Little Desert NP and westward of it. The different races of Slender-billed Thornbills have slightly different habitat preferences. Race "iredalei" is found mostly in chenopod shrublands, often near salt lakes, and nearby thickets. Race "rosinae" favours coastal samphire shrubland near tidal channels, whereas race "hedleyi" occurs in up to 2 m tall dry heath.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "rosinae" M. Eaton reports spotting Slender-billed Thornbills, race "rosinae", at Port Wakefield, SA, in October 2022. All sighting, photographic and audio information presented on this page has been kindly contributed by M. Eaton.

Photos

Race "rosinae"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a puffed-up Slender-billed Thornbill (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Port Wakefield, SA, October 2022]

Frontal view of a Slender-billed Thornbill looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Port Wakefield, SA, October 2022]

Lateral view of a Slender-billed Thornbill (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Port Wakefield, SA, October 2022]

Lateral view of a Slender-billed Thornbill (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Port Wakefield, SA, October 2022]

Lateral view of a Slender-billed Thornbill (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Port Wakefield, SA, October 2022]

Near-dorsal view of a Slender-billed Thornbill (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Port Wakefield, SA, October 2022]

Near-dorsal view of a Slender-billed Thornbill issuing its call (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Port Wakefield, SA, October 2022]

Dorsal view of a Slender-billed Thornbill (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Port Wakefield, SA, October 2022]

Behaviour

As opposed to other thornbill species, Slender-billed Thornbills are shy (and can therefore be hard to find) and they do not associate with other species in mixed flocks.

Food, Diet

To the best of our knowledge all thornbills feed primarily on small insects.

Fronal view of a Slender-billed Thornbill with a flower petal in its bill (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Port Wakefield, SA, October 2022]

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.

slbthbl_me_20221028.mp3	rosinae (SE SA)	?	© MD
slbthbl_me_20221028_2.mp3	rosinae (SE SA)	?	© MD

More Slender-billed 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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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: Sat, 29 October 2022, 4:35 +00:00