Acanthiza lineata

Striated Thornbill at Tennent, ACT

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Identification history

Acanthiza lineata	28 May 2018	MichaelBirdBoy
Acanthiza lineata	27 May 2018	ChrisDavey
Acanthiza uropygialis	27 May 2018	RodDeb

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12 comments

MichaelBirdBoy wrote:

28 May 2018

It’s always worth aiming for as good a photo as possible of the head of Thornbill. Preferably one(s) which show the iris, top and side of head, as this is most likely to aid in ‘id’. The first photo showing a brownish rump, a feature also of Brown Thornbill, doesn’t show as my old banding guide says the features which allow ‘id’ in the hand. The second photo shows a dark iris and streaking on the side of the head. The Chestnut-rumpled Thornbill has a whiteish iris, and like the Brown doesn’t have the obvious streaking on side of head as Striated. Best feature to separate the Brown and Striated in the hand is streaks vs scallops on top of head. Hence my comment about trying to get a photo of that part of Thornbill.

RodDeb wrote:

28 May 2018

Sorry it was the best pics could do, they stayed up high and did not settle at all. Can understand why you have given this as the likely id, we put the sighting on as a Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, as like you it did not seem to fit either of the other possibilities and the colouring and area on the rump fitted more to a photo we saw of a Chestnut-rumped Thornbill in "Birds of the Australian High Country". However as we were unable to get a good photo of the birds face it was difficult to confirm it.
Thanks for your time and help.
Deb and Rod

MichaelBirdBoy wrote:

29 May 2018

Thanks Deb and Rod, I’m not surprised that was best photos you could manage. It might interest you that ‘Bird in the Hand’ says “Although this species (Striated Thornbill) and the Brown Thornbill have different calls and field habits they appear similar in the hand,”. As many COG members will attest, although Striated usually feed up high in groups, and Brown lower often in ones or twos, both can be found low or high and on their own or sizeable groups. And just to keep you on your toes, sometimes together. You may have noted in “BotAHC” that Chestnut-tailed are normally found west of us in dry scrub. As technology improves when photos are difficult call ‘id’ might be what helps us all. In the meantime, if you have a better oral memory than mine you can try comparing to calls available via the internet.

RodDeb wrote:

29 May 2018

We are not very good on many of the different bird calls, can recognize a few but not Thornbills and don't think we would be able to remember what they sounded like. We kept hearing a Grey Shrike-thrush and a few people yelling in the distance as it was a weekend.
thanks again for your help.

ArcherCallaway wrote:

31 May 2018

I'm pretty sure you have 2 different species here resulting in your confusion - the first photo a Brown Thornbill and the second a Striated.
Chestnut-rumped is a more inland species not occurring in Canberra.

RodDeb wrote:

1 Jun 2018

Do you want the listings split, please let us know and will do so.
Thanks for your help.

MichaelBirdBoy wrote:

1 Jun 2018

If you don’t think your photos are of the same bird, then certainly split the records.
It is not uncommon for their to be a Brown Thornbill or two, among a flock of Striated Thornbill.
I’m fairly sure that the reason Ryu thinks your first photo is of a Brown Thornbill is the colour of the rump (Brown Thornbill often have a reddish brown rump as seen in your first photo, referred to as ‘rufous-tinged’ or dull ‘cinnamon’). I agree that bird calls aren’t easy unless you have that sort of ear/memory, and to make things more confusing Brown Thornbill are good at mimicking other bird calls. Imagine my and a friends dismay at find that the Whipbird we were chasing was a Brown Thornbill.

RodDeb wrote:

1 Jun 2018

Sounds like those Thornbills are tricky little devils.
We are not sure if it was the same bird or not but are happy to leave the sighting as is or whatever you advise as you can see we did not really know what type of Thornbill it or they were.
Happy to do as you experts advise. Thanks.

ArcherCallaway wrote:

2 Jun 2018

I would suggest you move the first photo into a new sighting

RodDeb wrote:

2 Jun 2018

Done, thanks Ryu.

ArcherCallaway wrote:

3 Jun 2018

For Aaron and Michael - I'm still seeing the old first image in mobile view but the retained second image on a wider screen - is that just an issue with my cache or an issue on CNMs end?

MichaelBirdBoy wrote:

3 Jun 2018

For Aaron and Ryu - I’m in Sydney using the SIM in my iPad and only one, the ‘original’ second, image is showing.

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