I posted a question about these little birds once before, I can't seem to find a page for them on Birds in Backyards? Is Buff Rumped Thornbill a proper species? ... and does anyone know how to tell the sex? Thornbills are my favourite 'Prey" and yet I hardly know anything of these.
Yes it is a proper species, but I can not find any information on how to distinguish between the 2 genders.
I concur with Amateur
may 1st impression of your pic was 'that's a plump little bird'
Peter
Yes Roger there are differences, I have both in my garden. The main difference is, like in all the different Thornbills, the colour of the eye. The Buff-rumped Thornbill has : no eyebrow, and a WHITE EYE. The Brown Thornbill has: no eyebrow and a RED EYE. The Stiated Thornbill has a: light coloured eyebrow, and a GREY/BROWN EYE.
There are other features to tell them appart, but the eyes are easy to spot.
M-L
Yes, proper species. As for sexing, I am not quite sure if sexual dimorphism exists among the thornbill group.
Agree on Buff-rumped Thornbill. BIBY does not have a factsheet on every single species so there are some that aren't in there.
Cheers, Owen.