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20

Eastern Whipbird (Psophodes olivaceus) Alternate name(s): "Coachwhip-bird*", "Stockwhip-bird*", "Whipbird*" Aboriginal name(s): "guwan", "jarun" [ngadjon] Size: 25-30 cm Weight: 47-72 g

Australia: Family Group 20 Family Group 20 Table Eastern Whipbird Chirruping Wedgebill Chiming Wedgebill Spotted Quail-thrush Cinnamon Quail-thrush Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush Varied Sittella Crested Bellbird Eastern (Crested) Shrike-tit Northern (Crested) Shrike-tit Grey Whistler Olive Whistler Golden Whistler Western Whistler Mangrove Golden Whistler White-breasted Whistler Rufous Whistler Gilbert's Whistler Little Shrike-thrush Bower's Shrike-thrush Sandstone Shrike-thrush Grey Shrike-thrush Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Eastern Whipbirds are the largest members of the genus Psophodes (whipbirds and wedgebills). The head is black, except for white cheek patches. Also their small crest is black. The front is black (chest) to grey (belly), with an inconspicuous white streak down the centre of the chest. The rest of the body plumage (back, sides, flanks, vent, tail) is dark olive-green. Only the sides of the tail have white tips. The eyes have pale-yellow to red-brown irises; the short, stout, slightly down-curved bill is black. The legs and feet are dark-grey. Juvenile Eastern Whipbirds are brownish olive throughout; immature birds show first signs of cheek patches and dark throat.

Taxonomy, classification See Eastern Whipbird 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 Eastern Whipbird is available HERE . There are two races of Eastern Whipbirds, both of which are endemic to Australia. Together they populate the East coast of the Australian continent and the eastern slopes of the Great Dividing Range. Nominate race "olivaceus" occurs from Melbourne, VIC, in the South, to Eungella NP, QLD, in the North. Throughout northern VIC and all of NSW they occasionally venture farther into the Great Dividing Range. Race "lateralis" is found in the tablelands of northern QLD, from Atherton to about Charters Towers. Eastern Whipbirds are usually found in dense, wet forest, including rainforest, mostly in the dense understorey (but note the exception given below where there is almost no understorey). Also found in dense, low coastal scrub, e.g. in dense, often banksia-dominated thickets. Where to look? How to find this species? While very hard to find when quiet, there is no missing Eastern Whipbirds in wet forest or rainforest once they call. Their call & answer sequence of "whit-chew" can be heard over very long distances, even in dense, wet undergrowth.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "olivaceous" We have spotted many Eastern Whipbirds, race "olivaceus", in the rainforests of Dorrigo NP, Bundjalung NP and Iluka NR in North-East NSW during several visits. In January 2011 they were notably more quiet at Dorrigo NP than during previous visits. Although a few calls could be heard, it was in general difficult to find Eastern Whipbirds then. This observation includes the fact that we also heard only one pair foraging through the underbrush, where during previous visits we had been able to locate many birds that way. Eastern Whipbirds, race "olivaceus", were also spotted by C. Kellenberg at Depot Beach, Murramarang NP, NSW, in February 2009. We have also found Eastern Whipbirds, race "olivaceus", further South along the NSW coast (e.g. Wingham Brush NR), but also further up North, in southern and central QLD. The farthest West we have found Eastern Whipbirds is Bunya Mountains NP, QLD and Mt. Walsh NP, QLD. Various contributors report spotting Eastern Whipbirds, race "olivaceus", regularly at O'Reilly's Plateau, Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD. The farthest West we have found Eastern Whipbirds, race "olivaceus", so far was at Bald Rock NP near Tenterfield, NSW, in May 2014. R. Plumtree reports spotting an Eastern Whipbird, race "olivaceus", at Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, in November 2014 and again in November 2018. Race "lateralis" J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours reports finding Eastern Whipbirds, race "lateralis", at Lake Eacham, Atherton Tablelands, QLD, in August 2020.

Photos

Race "olivaceus"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Close-up frontal portrait of an adult Eastern Whipbird (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Water Hole Road, Metung, near Lakes Entrance, VIC, November 2018]

Frontal view of an Eastern Whipbird
[O'Reilly's Plateau, Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD, May 2014]

Frontal view of an adult Eastern Whipbird foraging in leaf litter (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[O'Reilly's Plateau, Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD, April 2013]

Near-frontal view of an Eastern Whipbird
[O'Reilly's Plateau, Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD, May 2014]

Close-up near-lateral portrait of an Eastern Whipbird issuing its call (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Water Hole Road, Metung, near Lakes Entrance, VIC, November 2018]

Near-lateral view of an Eastern Whipbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[O'Reilly's Plateau, Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD, January 2020]

Lateral view of an Eastern Whipbird (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[O'Reilly's Plateau, Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD, July 2017]

Lateral view of an Eastern Whipbird foraging amongst leaf litter (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[O'Reilly's Plateau, Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD, April 2013]

Lateral view of an Eastern Whipbird in broad daylight (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, QLD, February 2018]

Lateral view of an adult Eastern Whipbird on a tree stump (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[St. Albans, NSW, September 2013]

Lateral view of an Eastern Whipbird issuing its characteristic call (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, November 2014]

Near-dorsal view of an Eastern Whipbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, QLD, February 2018]

Near-dorsal view of an Eastern Whipbird foraging through leaf litter (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[O'Reilly's Plateau, Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD, January 2020]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Lateral view of a sub-adult Eastern Whipbird moulting into adult plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP, QLD, February 2018]

Lateral view of juvenile Eastern Whipbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Gold Scrub Lane, Samsonvale, QLD, May 2020]

Lateral view of an juvenile Eastern Whipbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Anstead, QLD, August 2017]

Near-dorsal view of a juvenile Eastern Whipbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Anstead, QLD, August 2017]

Near-dorsal view of a juvenile Eastern Whipbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[O'Reilly's Plateau, Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD, January 2020]

Adult and juvenile Eastern Whipbird out in plain view (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Black Duck Reserve, Murrumba Downs, near Brisbane, QLD, September 2017]

Race "lateralis"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Close-up frontal view of an adult Eastern Whipbird (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Lake Eacham, Atherton Tablelands, QLD, August 2020]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Sedentary

Elementary unit: Pair

The Eastern Whipbirds observed by us at Wingham Brush Nature Reserve behaved differently compared to their cousins at Dorrigo NP: In the absence of dense underbrush they stayed in the tree tops almost all the time.

View of the underside of an Eastern Whipbird high up in a tree top
[Wingham Brush NR, NSW, September 2011]

This photo shows an Eastern Whipbird using its foot to help hold down something while foraging in leaf litter
(photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[O'Reilly's Plateau, Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD, April 2013]

Food, Diet

Eastern Whipbirds forage in the leaf litter of dense forests for insects. However, when necessary they appear to find food in tree tops as well.

Eastern Whipbird with its prey, a cockroach (photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[O'Reilly's Plateau, Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD, July 2017]

Near-dorsal view of an Eastern Whipbird with its prey (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[O'Reilly's Plateau, Lamington NP, Gold Coast, QLD, January 2020]

This Eastern Whipbird was observed trying to catch the spider whose web can be seen in the photo; while chasing the spider, it used an alarm call, as recorded on 14 March 2016
[Bunya Mountains NP, QLD, March 2016]

This Eastern Whipbird was observed trying to catch the spider whose web can be seen in the photo; while chasing the spider, it used an alarm call, as recorded on 14 March 2016
[Bunya Mountains NP, QLD, March 2016]

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.

The sound tracks below, which are brought to a normalized intensity in order to ensure linear amplification, cannot correctly reproduce the enormous volume of Eastern Whipbirds' calls. When nearby, their calls are absolutely ear-piercing in pitch and intensity. The calls carry, through rainforest, over distances of 500-1000 m.

eastwhp_20150820_4.m4a	olivaceus (NE NSW)	Contact call (male?)	© MD
eastwhp_20150820_2.m4a	olivaceus (NE NSW)	Pair Q&A	© MD
eastwhp_20140522_A.mp3	olivaceus (SE QLD)	Pair Q&A (very close)	© MD
eastwhp_art_20131125_3.m4a	olivaceus (SE QLD)	Pair Q&As	© ART
eastwhp_20140524_2.mp3	olivaceus (SE QLD)	Q&2As (two responses)	© MD
eastwhp_20150820.m4a	olivaceus (NE NSW)	Q&A(?)	© MD
eastwhp_20150328.m4a	olivaceus (N NSW)	Alarm call	© MD
eastwhp_20170608.m4a	olivaceus (SE QLD)	"Loudspeaker test"	© MD

More Eastern Whipbird 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.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.

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: Tue, 15 November 2022, 22:47 +00:00