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A chunky bird with a thick pale bill.
Not listed
At a glance
FamilyWhistlers and Allies
SizeSmall
RarityCommon
HabitatOpen woodland, scrub, forest edge, gardens, and mixed canopy with active insect life.
Best timeReported across most months in Queensland, with no narrow seasonal peak.
Sounds
Sound sampleRecorded by James Lambert
Range map
Range map
1138visible hotspots
20310visible 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
Major geographical variation, ranging from mostly rich rufous birds in southern New Guinea to birds that are gray on the back and buffy below in the Australian portion of the range, to various shades of brown across the rest of New Guinea, and a pale bill on Waigeo. Found at low elevations in a variety of moist forest, including secondary forest, gallery forest, swamp forest, and mangroves. A classic pattern is several accelerating whistles, followed by a couple of upslurred notes. Similar to Gray Shrikethrush, but found in denser habitats, and appears smaller, shorter-tailed, and browner overall, with buffy underparts. Also compare to various species of Pitohui; the shrikethrush is generally smaller and less colorful than many species, and paler than others. Now includes populations formerly considered six different species across New Guinea and into Australia.
Behavior
Rich, melodious, variable song consists of several penetrating whistles. Calls include “chak” notes and whiny nasal notes.
Gallery