Yellow-rumped Thornbill
Thornbills Acanthiza species
What do they look like ? Small grey , yellow or brown birds about 10 cm long that rarely sit still for long . They have a thin , pointed beak . Several species occur in the region . Inland , Yellow-rumped , Buff-rumped and Chestnut-rumped Thornbill are the most common species . The Yellow-rumped Thornbill is the easiest to identify because it is often in open country and its yellow rump is obvious as it flies away . If you manage to get a good look at a thornbill , the eye colour , leg colour and amount of streaking on the chest and face are important for identification .
Where do they live ? Most woodland habitats , but often overlooked because of their small size . Yellow-rumped Thornbills are sometimes common in open areas and cleared country . Other thornbills prefer intact vegetation with woody mid-storey vegetation .
What do they need to live , eat and breed ? Thornbills are ‘ gleaners ’, hunting food by inspecting leaves , twigs , tree bark and flowers for small invertebrates . They may form mixed groups , using all levels of the area they inhabit , so it is common to have some feeding on the ground and others in the tree canopy .
When might I see ( or hear ) them ? Daytime . Some species have distinctive twittering , trilling or soft calls that may give their presence away .
What management actions affect this species ? Maintaining structural diversity within patches of thicker scrub and woodland areas benefits thornbills . Wildfire , tree clearing and mechanical thinning of understory shrubs and trees reduce the amount of foraging space available and leads to localised declines . Except for Yellow-rumped Thornbills , they decrease when diversity of vegetation structure is lost . Grazing systems which retain leaf litter on the ground at the end of the dry season are also likely to help thornbills .
How do they benefit the land I manage ? Thornbills are efficient feeders on large numbers of insects . Due to their small size and active nature , they find insects in thick vegetation , which other bird species overlook . Their feeding complements other larger insectivorous birds that hunt in other vegetation strata , and all together , help keep many invertebrate species in check .
Similar species : Weebill ( Smicrornis brevirostris ) has a short wedge-shaped beak and is smaller in stature .
32