Hylacola pyrrhopygia

4 Chestnut-rumped Heathwren at Aranda, ACT

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Identification history

	Hylacola pyrrhopygia	9 Dec 2020	natureguy
	Hylacola pyrrhopygia	9 Dec 2020	ConBoekel

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Significant sighting

natureguy noted:

9 Dec 2020

A first record of this species for Black Mountain. This is a rare species in the ACT, at the inland edge of its distribution, with very few locations where it is regular. The main populations are at Bluett's Rock and in Namadgi NP around the Yerrabi Track however this area has been burnt last summer so the population may have disappeared. Occasional records from other locations may be dispersal of other birds or small remnant populations. However it seems unlikely that there has been a resident population on a regularly visited area like Black Mountain, which has not been detected before. It will be interesting to see if the birds are seen again.

User's notes

First record of Chestnut-rumped Thornbill for Black Mountain Nature Reserve. The two were interacting regularly so I assume they were a pair. Rated as a rare breeding resident by COG. They are regularly recorded from Bluett's Block. There is also a record for the Molongolo near Scrivener Dam. There is also a record from near Shepherd's Lookout. How these disparate populations will fare with the urbanization of the Molongolo Valley will be interesting to see.