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Little Grassbird (Megalurus gramineus) Alternate name(s): "Little Marshbird", "Striated Grassbird" Size: 12-15 cm; wing span: ca. 17 cm Body mass: 11-18 g Wing loading [g/cm2]: 0.15-0.22

Australia: Family Group 26 Family Group 26 Table Australian Reed-Warbler Spinifexbird Tawny Grassbird Little Grassbird Golden-headed Cisticola Zitting Cisticola Rufous Songlark Brown Songlark Yellow White-eye Ash-bellied White-eye Silvereye Bassian Thrush Russet-tailed Thrush Metallic Starling 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 Little Grassbirds are medium-sized reed birds of Australia. Their plumage is highly cryptic. The front is light-grey, with darker grey striation. They have inconspicuous dark eye stripes, with grey eyebrows above these. The crown is rufous-brown, the mantle, back and rump are lighter-brown, all with darker streaking. The flight feathers are dark-grey, with a thin near-white leading edge. The tail is plain dark-grey. There are variations in darkness and striation in the different races. The eyes have dark irises. The almost straight bill has a grey upper mandible, the lower mandible is horn-coloured. The legs and feet are grey. Juvenile Little Grassbirds have a yellowish tinge on frons, supercilia, cheeks and chest.

Taxonomy, classification See Little Grassbird 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 Little Grassbird is available HERE . Little Grassbirds are found only in Australia and in West Papua (eastern Indonesia). There are three races of Little Grassbirds in Australia, all of which are endemic. Nominate race "gramineus" is found only in Tasmania and the other major islands along Bass Strait. Race "goulburni" populates most of the eastern half of the continent. They breed in the south-eastern corner, with a boundary line from about the Hunter Valley, NSW, to Culgoa NP, NSW, and from there to Eyre peninsula in SA. Outside the breeding season they extend their range further northwards, into the rest of NSW, all of southern QLD (up to roughly the tropic of Capricorn), the eastern half of SA and the south-eastern NT, including Alice Springs. They are only rarely found further North, up to the base of Cape York peninsula, through the central NT and towards the Victoria River catchment. Race "thomasi" breeds in the south-western corner of WA, to the South of Perth. Outside their breeding season they extend their range along the West coast up to about Carnarvon, WA. Little Grassbirds have a strong preference for reeds, tall grass and other vegetation in and around swamps and lakes. Where to look? How to find this species? Little Grassbirds are a particularly shy, cryptic species. An observer's chances of first visually detecting one before hearing it are near 0. So it is very important to familiarise oneself with Little Grassbirds' calls. Once it is established that there is a Little Grassbird hidden in reeds, the best tactical approach is to settle down and wait for a bird to show itself on the edge of the dense growth. In doing so, it is important to check the BASE of the plants, just above the watermark; Little Grassbirds hardly ever come to the top to have a look around. Be prepared to find an "upside down" bird with cryptic plumage, head down, tail up.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "goulburni" A single Little Grassbird, race "goulburni", was first observed by us in reeds at Narrabri Lake in November 2010. Since then Little Grassbirds are found by us regularly at Narrabri Lake and in many other wetlands in inland NSW. R. Plumtree reports spotting a Little Grassbird, race "goulburni", at Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, in January 2014. M. Eaton reports finding Little Grassbirds, race "goulburni", at Wynnum Wetlands, Brisbane, QLD, in August 2017. Others were found at Cuttaburra Crossing, near Bedourie, QLD, in August 2025. Race "thomasi" J. Greaves spotted Little Grassbirds, race "thomasi", at Lake Claremont, Perth, WA, in January 2015. C. Pears reports finding Little Grassbirds, race "thomasi", regularly at Lake Herdsman, Perth, WA.

Photos

Race "goulburni"

ADULT

MALE

Frontal view of a Little Grassbird; this is the bird whose calls were recorded on 29 July 2022; if our interpretation of the calls is correct, this bird is a male
[Pilliga Lagoon, Pilliga, NSW, July 2022]

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Little Grassbird
[Burren Junction Bore Bath, NSW, December 2024]

Frontal view of a Little Grassbird looking sideways; this is the bird whose calls were recorded on 10 March 2020
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, March 2020]

Near-frontal view of a Little Grassbird looking towards the observer
[Burren Junction Bore Bath, NSW, December 2024]

Lateral view of a Little Grassbird looking at the observer
[Burren Junction Bore Bath, NSW, December 2024]

Close-up lateral view of a Little Grassbird
[Burren Junction Bore Bath, NSW, December 2024]

Lateral view of a Little Grassbird
[Burren Junction Bore Bath, NSW, December 2024]

Lateral view of a Little Grassbird
[Burren Junction Bore Bath, NSW, December 2024]

Lateral view of a Little Grassbird
[Burren Junction Bore Bath, NSW, December 2024]

Lateral view of a Little Grassbird (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, January 2014]

Lateral view of a Little Grassbird in reeds
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, March 2020]

Close-up near-dorsal view of a Little Grassbird
[Burren Junction Bore Bath, NSW, December 2024]

Dorsal view of a Little Grassbird with its tail up high
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, September 2010]

Dorsal view of a Little Grassbird hiding characteristically, low in reeds
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, August 2013]

Find the bird - who can spot the Little Grassbird?
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, August 2013]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Close-up frontal view of a Little Grassbird; the sparcity of streaks down the front may indicate that this bird is still young (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Wynnum Wetlands, Brisbane, QLD, August 2017]

Close-up frontal view of a juvenile Little Grassbird looking sideways; note the characteristic yellow tinge around the bill
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Wynnum Wetlands, Brisbane, QLD, August 2017]

Close-up frontal view of a juvenile Little Grassbird looking sideways; note the characteristic yellow tinge around the bill
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Wynnum Wetlands, Brisbane, QLD, August 2017]

Near-dorsal view of a juvenile Little Grassbird
[Pilliga Wetlands Walk, NSW, December 2024]

Race "thomasi"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Lateral view of a Little Grassbird in reeds (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Lake Claremont, Perth, WA, January 2015]

Near-dorsal view of a Little Grassbird, in a posture typical of this species, with the head down and the tail high up
(photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Lake Claremont, Perth, WA, January 2015]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Sedentary/dispersive

Elementary unit: Solitary/pair

Little Grassbirds are secretive birds that, although audible when calling, are very hard to find for visual identification (let alone photography). This is reflected in the fact that several of the photos displayed above show partly obscured birds.

Lateral view of a temporarily unwary Little Grassbird that, while checking out the photographer, has lost track of the competition about to hit from behind
[Burren Junction Bore Bath, NSW, December 2024]

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.

A number of different calls are presented here to document their variability, in particular in pitch.

ltgrass_20190616_2.m4a	goulburni (NW NSW)	Territorial call (male)	© MD
ltgrass_20240221.m4a	goulburni (NW NSW)	Territorial calls (male)	© MD
ltgrass_20241229.m4a	goulburni (NW NSW)	Territorial calls (male)	© MD
ltgrass_20190616.m4a	goulburni (NW NSW)	Territorial calls (male)	© MD
ltgrass_20220729_2.m4a	goulburni (NW NSW)	Territorial call (male) + "rattling" call response (female)	© MD
ltgrass_20180516_3.m4a	goulburni (NW NSW)	Chirp (male) + "rattling" call response (female)	© MD
ltgrass_20200310_1.m4a	goulburni (NW NSW)	? + territorial call (male)	© MD
ltgrass_20241229_2.m4a	goulburni (NW NSW)	Begging calls? (juvenile)	© MD
ltgrass_20200310_2.m4a	goulburni (NW NSW)	? (+ Eurasian Coot & Australian Reed-Warbler)	© MD
ltgrass_cp_20250726.m4a	thomasi (Perth, WA)	Territorial calls (Q&A)	© CP
ltgrass_cp_20260606.m4a	thomasi (Perth, WA)	Territorial calls (Q&A)	© CP
ltgrass_cp_20260606_2.m4a	thomasi (Perth, WA)	Various (pair Q&A)	© CP

More Little Grassbird 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.