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Southern Whiteface (Aphelocephala leucopsis) Alternate name(s): "Eastern White-face" & "Western White-face", "White-faced Titmouse", "White-faced Squeaker" Aboriginal name(s): "wirtuk" [tjapwurrung] Size: 10-12 cm Body mass: 11-16 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 Southern Whitefaces are very small bushland birds. They have a grey frons, with a darker grey band above it, between the eyes. The cap is greyish-brown. The front is light-grey, with a brownish to buff tinge towards the belly, vent and flanks. The back is brownish-grey. The irises are grey. The short, thick bill, the legs and feet are all dark-grey.

Taxonomy, classification See Southern Whiteface at Wikipedia . Click here for classification information The former "Eastern Whiteface" and "Western Whiteface" are now considered to be conspecific.

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 Southern Whiteface 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. Southern Whitefaces are endemic to the Australian continent. Their overall range comprises roughly the southern half of the continent. In the southern half of WA, South of the tropic of Capricorn, with the exceptions of the south-western corner up to about Kalgoorlie, WA, and the Gibson Desert, race "castaneiventris" is found. The range of nominate race "leucopsis" extends throughout the south-western quarter of the NT, almost all of SA (with the exception of the Lake Eyre Basin), far-southern inland QLD and all of NSW/VIC (except a narrow coastal strip). Southern Whitefaces have a preference for semi-arid scrub (including mulga) or woodland (also mallee). They often forage near the trunks of (often dead) trees.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "leucopsis" We first spotted a small mob of Southern Whitefaces, race "leucopsis", about 100 km West of Bourke, NSW, in September 2012. M. Mearns reports spotting Southern Whitefaces, race "leucopsis", at Currawinya NP, near Hungerford, QLD, in October 2012. B. Hensen found Southern Whitefaces, race "leucopsis", with dependent young, at Oolambeyan NP, south-western NSW, in November 2012. M. Eaton reports spotting Southern Whitefaces, race "leucopsis", at Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, in September 2017 and again in August 2018 and in June 2019. R. Plumtree found Southern Whitefaces, race "leucopsis", near Hawker, SA, in September 2018, and at Mount Korong, VIC, in November 2018. Next we found Southern Whitefaces, race "leucopsis", along the Bourke, NSW, to Hungerford, QLD, road in June 2019. M. Fleming reports finding Southern Whitefaces, race "leucopsis", in the Pilliga scrub, near Gwabegar, NSW, in August 2021. M. Eaton found Southern Whitefaces, race "leucopsis", at Broken Hill, NSW, in June 2022.

Photos

Race "leucopsis"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Full-frontal view of a Southern Whiteface; note the characteristic "unhappy" look (photo courtesy of M. Fleming)
[Pilliga scrub, near Gwabegar, NSW, August 2021]

Frontal view of a Southern Whiteface (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Broken Hill, NSW, June 2022]

Near-frontal view of a Southern Whiteface (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Currawinya NP, QLD, October 2012]

Close-up near-lateral view of a Southern Whiteface (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Currawinya NP, QLD, October 2012]

Near-lateral view of a Southern Whiteface (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Broken Hill, NSW, June 2022]

Near-lateral view of a Southern Whiteface (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Broken Hill, NSW, June 2022]

Lateral view of a Southern Whiteface (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Mount Korong, VIC, November 2018]

Lateral view of a Southern Whiteface
[100 km west of Bourke, NSW, September 2012]

Near-dorsal view of a Southern Whiteface looking backwards
[100 km west of Bourke, NSW, September 2012]

Near-dorsal view of a Southern Whiteface (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Broken Hill, NSW, June 2022]

Near-dorsal view of a Southern Whiteface (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Near Hawker, SA, September 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a Southern Whiteface foraging on the ground (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, September 2017]

Dorsal view of a Southern Whiteface looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Broken Hill, NSW, June 2022]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Southern Whiteface feeding a dependent young a juicy caterpillar (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Oolambeyan NP, NSW, November 2012]

Southern Whiteface feeding a dependent young (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Mount Korong, VIC, November 2018]

Southern Whiteface feeding a dependent young (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Mount Korong, VIC, November 2018]

Southern Whiteface feeding a dependent young (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Mount Korong, VIC, November 2018]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Communal

Mobility: Sedentary

Elementary unit: Family clan/mob

According to field guides Southern Whitefaces are often seen foraging with Yellow-rumped Thornbills. They were seen by us together with Chestnut-rumped Thornbills.

Food, Diet

Southern Whitefaces take seeds, insects and arachnids.

Southern Whiteface feeding a dependent young a juicy caterpillar (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Oolambeyan NP, NSW, November 2012]

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.

sthwfac_20190621.m4a

(NW NSW)

Contact calls?

© MD

More Southern Whiteface 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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