/
Large songbird, tawny with streaking above, paler below, with rich brown crown and long, graduated tail.
Not listed
At a glance
FamilyGrassbirds and Allies
SizeSmall
RarityCommon
HabitatClosed forest, Grassland, Irrigated farmland, Open woodland, and Sparse woodland
Best timeReported across most months in Queensland, with no narrow seasonal peak.
Sounds
Sound sampleRecorded by Peter Boesman
Range map
Range map
1793visible hotspots
89689visible 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
It is streaked above and has a distinctive rich brown cap. Its underside is paler and it has a long graduated tail. The term "grassbird" was used by Gould during the mid 19th century to signify a strong correlation to long grass habitats. The tawny grassbird has also been known as tawny sphenoeacus, grassbird, tawny or rufous-capped marshbird, rufous-capped grass-warbler and rufous-capped grassbird.
Behavior
In similar grassland and reedbed habitats, smaller Golden-headed Cisticola has much shorter tail, Little Grassbird is duller in plumage, and Australian Reed-Warbler has plain, unstreaked plumage. Calls often, with loud, grumpy churring calls and a longer call that starts “tick-tick-tick-tick” and ends with an explosive descending trill.
Gallery