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Spotted Scrubwren (Sericornis maculatus) Aboriginal name(s): "binkimom", "kikal" Size: 11-13 cm Body mass: 8-13 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 Spotted Scrubwrens are small bushland birds. Details of their plumage depend on race. In general, they have a dark grey-brown back with black shoulder patches, brown tail with a dark-grey subterminal band and a lighter (creamy to brown, race "maculatus" speckled) front. Their common characteristics are a broad, prominent black eye stripe with two narrower white or grey stripes above and below. The irises are yellow. The bill is dark-grey, the legs and feet are pinkish-grey. Female Spotted Scrubwrens tend to be greyer than males across all races. The bill of all races and sexes is dark-grey, the legs and feet are pinkish-grey. Juveniles have duller colours, but otherwise resemble females.

Taxonomy, classification See Spotted Scrubwren at Wikipedia . Click here for classification information The Spotted Scrubwren is no longer considered to be a race of the White-browed Scrubwren, Sericornis frontalis, but has been given full species status.

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 Spotted Scrubwren is available HERE . Spotted Scrubwrens are endemic to southern Australia. There are four races of Spotted Scrubwrens in Australia; for details see a field guide. Their range extends from Kangaroo Island (race ashbyi"), via Eyre peninsula, SA, to near Bunbury, WA (race "mellori"), and via south-western WA to about the Geralton area (nominate race maculatus") northward to ca. Exmouth (race "balstoni"). Spotted Scrubwrens are found in dense undergrowth of various types of vegetation, from the underbrush of eucalypt forest inland to heath, dense wet forest and saltmarshes. They can also appear in dense underbrush in urban parks and gardens.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "maculatus" J. Greaves reports spotting Spotted Scrubwrens at Cheynes Beach, Albany, WA, in January 2015 and again in June 2020, at Manjimup, WA, in March 2015, and at Ocean Reef, Perth, WA, in December 2016. C. Pears finds Spotted Scrubwrens regularly at Quindalup, WA. Race "ashbyi" J. Greaves reports spotting a Spotted Scrubwren, race "ashbyi", at Seal Bay, Kangaroo Island, SA, in March 2016.

Photos

ADULT

PAIR

Many bird species exhibit sexual dimorphism, i.e., male and female have differing appearances which can be quite subtle.
Male Spotted Scrubwrens, left, have more colour contrast between background and eyebrows and loral stripe than females. The latter's head is also browner than the males' predominantly grey one.

MALE

Near-frontal view of a male Spotted Scrubwren; note the spotted breast characterising this bird as race "maculatus"
(photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Quindalup, WA, October 2024]

Near-lateral view of a male Spotted Scrubwren (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Quindalup, WA, October 2024]

Lateral view of a male Spotted Scrubwren (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Quindalup, WA, October 2024]

Dorsal view of a male Spotted Scrubwren (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Quindalup, WA, October 2024]

FEMALE

Lateral view of a female Spotted Scrubwren; note that this bird is greyer than the male shown above
(photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Ocean Reef, Perth, WA, December 2016]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Near-frontal view of an immature Spotted Scrubwren foraging in leaf litter (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Quindalup, WA, October 2025]

Lateral view of an immature Spotted Scrubwren foraging in leaf litter (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Quindalup, WA, October 2025]

Near-dorsal view of an immature Spotted Scrubwren foraging in leaf litter (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Quindalup, WA, October 2025]

(Near-)lateral view of a family of Spotted Scrubwrens - left to right: juvenile, female and male
(photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Quindalup, WA, October 2024]

Lateral view of a juvenile Spotted Scrubwren, left, and a female (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Quindalup, WA, October 2024]

Race "ashbyi"

ADULT

MALE

Lateral view of a male White-browed Scrubwren (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Seal Bay, Kangaroo Island, SA, March 2016]

Near-frontal view onto the cap and upperparts of a foraging male White-browed Scrubwren (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Seal Bay, Kangaroo Island, SA, March 2016]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Sedentary

Elementary unit: Pair/family clan

Food, Diet

Spotted Scrubwrens forage through leaf litter or tree bark for small insects.

Near-dorsal view of a male Spotted Scrubwren with its prey, an earthworm
(photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Quindalup, WA, October 2024]

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