Juvenile lacks red eye and has yellow gape (base of bill).
WA: Rare
Endemic to Australia
Indigenous: Tjirda-Tjirda, Yirdi-Yirdi, Fuscous Warbler, Southern Warbler, Inland Warbler, Fuscous Flyeater, Sleepy Dick, Western Flyeater, Western Warbler, White-Tailed Bush-Warbler
At a glance
FamilyThornbills and Allies
SizeMedium
RarityCommon
HabitatClosed forest, Grassland, Open woodland, and Sparse woodland.
Best timeMost reliable in Western Australia from September.
Sounds
Sound sampleRecorded by Zebedee Muller
Range map
Range map
200approx hotspots
62887approx records
5states
Low confidenceMediumHigh confidence
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
Inhabits woodlands in drier, inland regions of Australia, where it is the only gerygone.
Behavior
Upperparts gray, underparts grayish or whitish, with distinctive black-and-white tail pattern (best seen in flight), thin pale eyering, and red eye.
Gallery
Regional timing
Queensland
Western Australia
New South Wales
South Australia
Northern Territory
Victoria
Australian Capital Territory
Commonly confused with
Inland ThornbillAcanthiza apicalisOften cocks tail upright. Similar Brown Thornbill has brown rather than gray-brown upperparts. Chestnut-rumped and Buff-rumped thornbills both have pale eyes, unstreaked chest, and mostly black tails. Inhabits dry woodland and scrubland, also in wetter habitats in southwestern edges of its range.→Chestnut-rumped ThornbillAcanthiza uropygialisYoung bird has dark eye and can be confused with Slaty-backed Thornbill. Compare Inland Thornbill, which has a heavily streaked chest.→Buff-rumped ThornbillAcanthiza reguloidesUpperparts grayish brown towards southern end of range and more olive-brown farther north. Underparts are varying levels of yellow depending on subspecies. Distinctive orange-brown rump in all subspecies, some also with and orange-brown tone in lores. Pale eye.→