I have seen a bird that I would have identified as an immature or female Grey Shrike-thrush except that its size has thrown me completely. It would have been no more than 19 to 20 cm, was a predominately grey colour, lighter underneath, beak and eye similar to GS-t and has short stripes on its breast.
I live in Cooloola Cove (northern Sunshine Coast just south of Fraser Is). We have a creek reserve area behind the house with reeds, long grasses, grevillea, melaleuca, banksia, swamp bloodwood, small shrubs etc.
We have lived here for over 4 years and this is the first time I have seen this bird.
Any thoughts.
Dunno... female/imm. Rufous Whistler maybe?
The female Rufous Whistler seems to be a near perfect match for the bird I saw. Haven't seen the male so I still can't be certain. I suppose it's possible that it was a young unmated female.
I thought there was a possibility that it could be a Little Grassbird, but this seems less likely than a female Rufous Whistler.
Anyway, I am going to put it into my book of birds as a Rufous Whistler with a question mark.
Looking for the male will give me something more to do in my retirement.
Almost certain to be a Rufous Whistler because I just heard its song. Identical to the first and second set of calls on this site.
congrats, always good when you finish an ID
Peter