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Tasmanian Thornbill
(Acanthiza ewingii)
: "Ewing's Thornbill"
Size: 10 cm
Weight: 6-8 g
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Similar species |
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Physical description |
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Click here for a physical description
Tasmanian Thornbills are very small bushland birds. Their cap is
olive-brown,
the back and tail are darker olive-brown, while the wing feathers
are dark-grey with olive-brown edge lining. The front, from chin
to breast, is finely scalloped grey on lighter grey. The sides
of the head and the frons also show some scalloping. The belly
is greyish to cinnamon towards the vent. The undertail coverts
are white to light-grey and visibly fluffy.
The irises are red; the bill, legs and feet are dark-grey.
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Twitcher's tip |
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Tasmanian Thornbills are best distinguished from Brown Thornbills by their
characteristic white to light-grey tail coverts.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Tasmanian
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 based
on sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
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The global distribution of the Tasmanian Thornbill is available
HERE
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There are two races of Tasmanian Thornbills, both of which are
endemic to Tasmania and other, smaller islands along Bass Strait.
Nominate race
"ewingii" populates most of Tasmania and all the associated
smaller islands,
EXCEPT King Island. They are also only rarely found in the hills to
the South of Launceston, TAS.
On King Island, race "rufifrons"
is found.
Tasmanian Thornbills are found in forest, woodland and
scrub, in
particular in cold and wet areas.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
Race "ewingii"
Tasmanian Thornbills, nominate race
"ewingii",
were spotted by B. Hensen on Bruny Island, TAS, in March 2016.
All sighting and photographic information presented on this page
has kindly been contributed by B. Hensen.
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Photos |
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Race "ewingii"
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ADULT |
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Frontal view of a Tasmanian Thornbill (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bruny Island, TAS, March 2016]
Near-lateral view of a Tasmanian Thornbill (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bruny Island, TAS, March 2016]
Lateral view of a Tasmanian Thornbill (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bruny Island, TAS, March 2016]
Lateral view of a Tasmanian Thornbill; note the fluffy white to
light-grey tail coverts characteristic of this species
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bruny Island, TAS, March 2016]
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.