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Woodland bird of eastern and northern Australia and New Guinea.
Not listed
Indigenous: Cicadabird
At a glance
FamilyCuckooshrikes
SizeSmall
RarityCommon
HabitatClosed forest, Grassland, Open woodland, Sparse woodland, and Waterbodies
Best timeMost reliable in Queensland from October to January.
Sounds
Sound sampleRecorded by Marc Anderson
Range map
Range map
2429visible hotspots
53081visible records
4states
SparseModerateDense hotspot
Aggregated occurance data is sourced from 14 different actively-updating datasets including eBird Australia, iNaturalist Australia, BirdLife Australia, and multiple state-based bird surveys through Atlas of Living Australia.
Species notes
Overview
Strong sexual dimorphism in plumage. Male dark slaty-gray, with black around bill, and black on wings. Female brown, with dark line through eye, extensive fine barring on chest and belly, and fairly plain brown wings (much browner and lacking the white wingbars of Varied Triller). Shows geographical variation, especially in female plumage.
Behavior
Found in the canopy of a wide variety of forest, woodland, scrub, and savanna habitats. Calls include a long (10-second) sequence of insect-like repeated buzzes (hence its name), also a slower version, and a robin-like sequence of clear whistled notes.
Gallery