I saw a pair of birds chasing each other at decent speed and managed to capture an image of one. Not sure but I think it might be a female rufous whistler. The fish tail and big eye correlate but the colouring seems a little dark, (could just be the low light), and the amount of striation seems to rule out Golden Whistler. The image was taken close-ish to Patonga on the NSW central Coast on the Great North Walk.
Hm, could also be an Olive Whistler?
M-L
Sorry to contradict you ML, but Olive Whistlers have not been recorded on the Central Coast of NSW before as far as I'm aware. Looks like imm or female Golden. Hard to tell. LJ
There is something interesting I discovered about the Olive Whistler. There is a subspecies that is found in south east Queensland down to NSW Barrington Tops which is near Newcastle. This the subspecies known as "Macphersioniana". It seems odd that there is a gap in Olive Whistler sightings from Newcastle NSW to Canberra. I am not saying this is one of them and most likely is an immature 'Golden' as I originally thought before toying with the 'Rufous' idea. I did see a mature Golden whistler closer to Woy Woy on my way to Patonga. Thanks for the suggestion ML.
Maybe the habitat isn't completely right for them between BT and Canberra. Seems odd though. There was a claimed sighting of one near Kangaroo Valley NSW around 2008 (not sure how legit) and they're meant to be recorded near Cambewarra, east of Kangaroo Valley. There's a possibility that a few might be lurking about in the Southern Highlands of NSW, where I'm based. I think there might be an old record of OWs at Mt Irvine in the Blue Mountains of NSW too. I wish there were more of them around - they're one of my fave Aussie birds. LJ
My Graham Pizzey book, published 1980, revised 1991 says the Olive Whistler is in "Blue Mts,. NSW; with (? isolated) highland populations n. to McPherson Ras. in far se. Q. Ranges from sea-level to over 1500m. In many parts, to lower or more open habitats in autumn-winter, and is then unexpectedly in parks, gardens. Fairly common in s., scarce in n."
The above might give credence to a rogue Olive sighting on the central coast, but I feel the female Golden Whistler descriptions are a better match:
"Note pale-grey tips to greater wing coverts, giving subtle pale line across wing" (Italics his; I think this line is visible in your photo); "some females, specially from coastal n. NSW and s. Q, have lemon was on under tail-coverts". I don't know my wing parts yet, but I did note some quite bright yellow about the rump/tail in your shot. Not 100% sure if that's the bird's colouration though, or the foliage.
PS. Mature male Golden here in Sydney too. (No idea whether they're common or not for Sydney).
Yeah "youcantryreachingme" They are around in Sydney (Goldens). I've seen 'em up the North Shore and North i.e. Turramurra, Wahroonga, Hornsby, Normanhurst, Mt Kuringai, Berowra. As well as the south; Loftus, Engadine, Waterfall, Helensburgh. I've also seen 'em west at Lapstone and Springwood (Rufous up there too, in the blue mountains).