17

Tasmanian Scrubwren (Sericornis humilis) Alternate name(s): "Brown Scrubwren*" Size: 12-14 cm Body mass: 16-21 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 Tasmanian Scrubwrens are small bushland birds. They have a dark grey-brown back and tail and a lighter brown front, with a greyish throat patch. The head is dark grey-brown, with two light-grey to white stripes above and below the eyes. The eyes are surrounded by a prominent dark-grey eye stripe. The irises are yellow. The bill is dark-grey, the legs and feet are pinkish-grey. Juvenile Tasmanian Scrubwrens do not have white stripes on the sides of the head yet.

Taxonomy, classification See Tasmanian Scrubwren at Wikipedia . Click here for classification information Some sources list the Tasmanian Scrubwren as a race of the White-browed Scrubwren, Sericornis frontalis. We follow the approach by Pizzey & Knight, who list the Tasmanian Scrubwren as a separate species.

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 Tasmanian Scrubwren is available HERE . Tasmanian Scrubwrens are endemic to Tasmania, King Island and some other, smaller islands along Bass Strait, but not the islands of the Furneaux group. Tasmanian Scrubwrens have a preference for temperate rainforest, sclerophyll forest, woodland, paperbark swamp and coastal scrubland.

Sightings Click here for sighting information A Tasmanian Scrubwren was spotted by B. Hensen on Bruny Island, TAS, in March 2016. M. Eaton reports finding Tasmanian Scrubwrens at Mt. Wellington, Hobart, TAS, and along the Queen Elizabeth Track, Bruny Island, TAS, in April 2021. Others were found at Eaglehawk Neck, near Hobart, TAS, and at St. Helens, TAS, in September 2021. Next, Tasmanian Scrubwrens were found by M. Eaton around Bicheno, TAS, in September 2024.

Photos

ADULT

PAIR

Many bird species exhibit sexual dimorphism, i.e., male and female have differing appearances which can be quite subtle.
Male Tasmanian Scrubwrens, left, have stronger facial markings, especially the moustachial stripe, than females.

MALE

Frontal view of a male Tasmanian Scrubwren (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Eaglehawk Neck, near Hobart, TAS, September 2021]

Near-frontal view of a male Tasmanian Scrubwren; note the white moustachial stripe and the otherwise charcoal head
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mt. Wellington, Hobart, TAS, April 2021]

Near-lateral view of a male Tasmanian Scrubwren sitting in the bathtub (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Queen Elizabeth Track, Bruny Island, TAS, April 2021]

Close-up lateral view of a male Tasmanian Scrubwren looking towards the observer (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[St. Helens, TAS, September 2021]

Close-up lateral view of a male Tasmanian Scrubwren looking towards the observer (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[St. Helens, TAS, September 2021]

Lateral view of a male Tasmanian Scrubwren (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bicheno, TAS, September 2024]

Lateral view of a male Tasmanian Scrubwren foraging in leaf litter (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mt. Wellington, Hobart, TAS, April 2021]

FEMALE

Near-frontal view of a female Tasmanian Scrubwren sitting in a puddle (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Queen Elizabeth Track, Bruny Island, TAS, April 2021]

Near-lateral view of a female Tasmanian Scrubwren sitting in a puddle (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Queen Elizabeth Track, Bruny Island, TAS, April 2021]

Lateral view of a female Tasmanian Scrubwren looking away from the observer (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Queen Elizabeth Track, Bruny Island, TAS, April 2021]

Lateral view of a female(?) Tasmanian Scrubwren (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Eaglehawk Neck, near Hobart, TAS, September 2021]

Lateral view of a female(?) Tasmanian Scrubwren; note the inconspicuous moustachial stripe and the brownish-grey head (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mt. Wellington, Hobart, TAS, April 2021]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Lateral view of a juvenile Tasmanian Scrubwren; note the absence of white stripes on the side of the head (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bruny Island, TAS, March 2016]

Lateral view of a juvenile Tasmanian Scrubwren, now with its head turned away (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bruny Island, TAS, March 2016]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Sedentary

Elementary unit: Pair/family clan

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