Hello,
I am stuck (and my slater's guide has for once failed me). There is a small bird in my backyard in inner NW Melbourne which has me stumped. It has been too quick for my camera so far, but in lieu of a photo until I can catch it amongst my raspberries, here is a description which I hope someone can help me with. I am suspecting a possible juvenile as I can't find it in my books, but may be wrong.
It is a small bird, bigger than a thornbill, slightly smaller than a wagtail. It has an olive breast and back of the head, and a white brow. Pretty sure it's an insect eater, as the number of caterpillars amongst the vegie pots has diminished markedly since its arrival on the scene.
Have googled and backyard identified to no avail - any suggestions?
Thanks!
:)
Hi kj, maybe check out the bronze-cuckoos.
Ed Townsville NQ
Bronze cuckoo sounds too big, I think it sounds like a honeyeater, maybe white eared
Also maybe white-browed scrubwren.
Thanks Ed!
A bronze cuckoo would be cool! Not in my burbs though. The olive is also on the front rather than the back.
I should perhaps mention, I am in a completely urban and mostly exotic vegetation area. However, my neighbor has some gums, so we do get wattlebirds and a few honeyeaters amongst the plethora of feral turtle doves. Perhaps a juvenile one of these? No pics yet - rain has kept birds in the trees this morning.
Hi kj21, next time you see the bird, find out, what beak it has? I live east of Melbourne, what I find in my yard, are 2 kinds of "Whistlers". I have some Golden Whistlers, and Olive Whistlers. Could be one of those? Have you heared it sing, or whistle?? Good luck!!
M-L
Olive with white brow throws me out a little. FIrst I thought was Silvereye. Now I think maybe a White-browed Scrubwren.
This is an adult Silvereye. Juveniles (from memory) don't have the eye ring as yet.
http://amatteroflight.com/gallery2/d/3549-2/Silvereye_7912.jpg
And this the WB Scrubwren
http://amatteroflight.com/gallery2/d/2906-6/White-browed-Scrubwren_8917.jpg
Hi, how about a White-eared Honeyeater? (here I go again, most juvenile Whistlers (even the golden one) look olive) But, you know, I'm no expert!!! Keep looking for the beak, it will get you closer to solving the mistery.
M-L
Thanks all for input. I have trawled through all of the scrub wrens, yellow robins, thornbills etc....no luck there.
I will do my best to get photos tomorrow morning. Not a peep out of it though, so no help from a call. I will look more carefully at its beak shape and eye colour - it's usually hanging out in my tomatoes, so hard to see too well.
It does have a very distinct white brow stripe and an olive breast, as opposed to olive coloured back. I saw one back before winter and was stumped then as now.
The search continues...
P.s. Not a white eared honeyeater or either whistler...darn little whipper snapper!
Grey Fantail? Not many other birds that have a white eyebrow. Apart from the "olive" it matches your description pretty well.
the only others i can think of with white brow stripe are the little grass bird and jacky winter or maybe a weebill
Not sure about Grey Fantail, or Little Grassbird (these I doubt would be in many people's backyards), but the Weebill theory sounds feasible. Although just saw I have a Yellow-rumped Thornbill image uploaded in my gallery, but not a Weebill. So this is a YRTbill.
Does it look like this by chance?
http://amatteroflight.com/gallery2/d/3364-2/Yellow-rumped-Thornbill-1197.jpg
Grey fantails are so common around my area in Melbourne they almost annoying!
Personally I disagree about Fantails in gardens. I see them across the street from suburbs. Fantails are probably more likely in gardens then Yellow-rumped Thornbills (the latter you would have to be living on the edge of open fields/scrubland) whereas Fantails turn up in any habitat with shrubs or trees. I'd say pretty much the same for Weebill as I did for YRT. Weebills are largely absent from the Melbourne area.
Thanks all for suggestions. I considered wee bills myself because of looks, but I know them pretty well and it's not one. Not that little either. But, I have now discovered a pair of white eared honeyeaters which are very fun to watch. I thought it may have been my olive bird, and I am not convinced it is not except the pair stick together, never come down out of the trees, and the one extremely fuzzy picture I got of the other bird showed a yellow beak. That one will remain a mystery for the moment, i have not seen it since. It has been an education though taking notice of the different birds in my little courtyard.
Cheers,
KH
I was meant to say the Little Grassbird (these, being Little Grassbirds). :) Of course, Grey Fantails are quite suburban.
Re: Yellow-rumped Thornbills, I have seen them near Parramatta in the geographical heart of Sydney, far from any scrubland. Birds don't necessarily follow the guidebooks I guess. :) But, yeah, they'd be less suburban. If we knew where inner NW Melbourne is, there may well be some suitable habitat around there for them too. :)
KJ
Please post the fuzzy picture. Don't be shy, we want to see whatever we can, as sometimes any small clue can help. Just worth to note that I cannot see many linked images due to some hosting sites being filtered at work, so if you could; can you e-mail it to
thanks :)
I think if you have seen some white eared honeyeaters around then that is probably your bird. It matches the description pretty well and there aren't many birds with a white brow. Fantails are pretty easy to id.
Now that KH mentions the yellow bill and that they are olive, Bell Miner came to mind and they often hang high in the trees feeding on lerps and insects. They are very aggressive to other birds and often chase them from their territories. The only thing that really throws this off the rails is a white brow. I have never ever seen a Bell Miner with one.
KH, do you hear them calling? Is it a really high-pitched tink kind of sound? Almost like a bell? They really sound like bells tinking but more so from some distance. Up close it's a high-pitched squeak. I am sure you get what I mean. Bell Miners are also somewhat smaller than Noisy Miners and by wagtail I figure you mean Willy Wagtail, so I thinkbased on rough size and the olive with yellow beak seems to be close in description. Like I said, if you could post the pic, fuzzy or not please. It's probably a common bird and got every one here stumped.
Just thought of another, though it's about Willy Wagtail size or perhaps a tad larger. Female Blackbird. Olive in many instances and yellow bill. In the image I attach it has a white-ish brow
http://www.wildanimalsonline.com/birds/blackbird-turdusmerula-hen.jpg
Since I cannot edit my previous post, I need to add that Blackbirds are skulkers. I.e. they are very shy of people. :(
Indeed in Australia blackbirds are shy. In england they are very tame normally.