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Habitat

(for details refer to a field guide)

Speckled Warblers are found only in the east and south-east of the Australian continent, southward of about the tropic of Capricorn. Their range includes the Great Dividing Range from about Rockhampton, QLD, to just north of Melbourne, VIC. They are not found along a narrow coastal strip north of the Hunter River, NSW, but their range extends inland as far as the line Bourke-Cobar in NSW.

Speckled Warblers can be found in dry forest and open woodland, usually at low height or on the ground.

Sightings

Speckled Warblers are quite a rare sight 20 km south of Narrabri and it took us a while to identify them. First seen there, with identification, in August 2006, then again in October 2006.

In April 2007 a pair of Speckled Warblers came onto the lawn of our place 20 km east of Narrabri. A pair of Speckled Warblers stayed there throughout the winter months and spring of 2007, nesting very early at the end of winter and raising their chicks in low scrub. Once the offspring had fledged, they disappeared. Seen in adjacent bushland in February 2008. Seen again around our place starting in autumn (April 2008). Spotted again in August 2008. Since our paddock has been slashed (and subsequently kept short) and undergrowth has been pruned Speckled Warblers have not been seen again at our place.

Seen regularly in Deriah Forest, 30 km east of Narrabri, in the years since 2007.

Also found by us at Porcupine Reserve, Gunnedah, NSW, in December 2008 and again in August 2011.

In September 2011 a pair of Speckled Warblers was spotted by us on the edge of Leard State Forest, 5 km west of Maules Creek, NSW.

Photos

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Near-frontal view of a male Speckled Warbler

Lateral view of the same bird as shown above

Male Speckled Warbler preening

Frontal view of a female Speckled Warbler

Here in broad sunshine...

Lateral view of a female Speckled Warbler

Female Speckled Warbler preening

Speckled Warbler foraging on the ground

Frontal view of a fledgling Speckled Warbler

This photo shows clearly the downy feathers the bird is yet to shed

Different viewing angle...

Lateral view of the same fledgling bird as shown above

Breeding information

Breeding season: Sep - Jan

Eggs: 3 - 4

Incubation period: ?

Fledging age: ?

Most field guides list starting dates for the Speckled Warbler's breeding season of August to September, which is in line with many other species. Our experience, however, is that Speckled Warblers are amongst the very first breeders of the year, i.e. if they breed in August it can still be freezing cold. We assume that, as insect eaters, they find enough food in wintertime to start breeding early in order to beat any migratory small cuckoos to it. The fledgling bird shown on this page was seen on the day in early September 2010 when the first migratory birds that leave Australia during the southern winter arrived in the Narrabri area.