17

Yellow-rumped Thornbill

(Acanthiza chrysorrhoa)
Alternative names: "Yellow-tailed Thornbill", "Yellow-rumped Tit", "Yellow-rumped Tit-Warbler", "Yellow-tail"
Size: 11-12 cm

Habitat
(for details refer to a field guide)

Yellow-rumped Thornbills populate mostly the southern half of the Australian continent, including large parts of the semi-arid interior. There are four races - for details see a field guide. In general Yellow-rumped Thornbills are found in southern and central QLD, the southern half of the NT, the southern half of WA, most of SA and almost all of NSW and VIC. There are a few exceptions to this general rule of thumb: there are no Yellow-rumped Thornbills in the Nullarbor or northen central WA. They are not found around the border regions of NT/SA/QLD and NSW/QLD/SA (basically the catchment feeding Lake Eyre). Yellow-rumped Thornbills are present in Tasmania, except for the island's west coast.

Yellow-rumped Thornbills are usually found in lightly wooded areas, such as open forest or areas with a remnant tree population, often around the fringes of woodland. They are the only species of thornbill that will forage on the ground in open grassland (but close to trees).

Sightings

Yellow-rumped Thornbills were regular visitors to the place where we lived from 2003 to 2006, 20 km south of Narrabri, NSW, on the edge of Jack's Creek State Forest. They were always around the place in considerable numbers.

20 km east of Narrabri, in more open country, seen only infrequently, usually in autumn/winter, while other thornbills are more prominent. Yellow-rumped Thornbills are resident in the bushland of the adjacent hill range, a few kilometres further east. In the 2011/12 breeding season we have first observed them collecting nesting material at our place, so they must have stayed somewhere nearby.

Photos

Near-frontal view of a Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Lateral view of a slightly dazed Yellow-rumped Thornbill that had a run-in with a window pane, but in the end recovered

Dorsal view, with a very clear view of the yellow rump giving the species its name

Here another clear view of the yellow rump (photo courtesy of R. Druce)

The same bird as shown above, now seen sideways (photo courtesy of R. Druce)

View from above onto the crown of a Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Close-range shot of a Yellow-rumped Thornbill on our lawn

Here another bird seen foraging on the ground

Yellow-rumped Thornbill in evening sunlight

Here a Yellow-rumped Thornbill just out of the bathtub

Yellow-rumped Thornbills on our lawn, hiding in the shade of a tree on a stinking hot day; like all birds they use their open bills and slightly spread wings for evaporative cooling

Breeding information

Breeding season: Jul - Dec Eggs: 3 - 4 Incubation period: 18 days Fledging age: ca. 14 - 21 days

Nest

Type: Hanging bottle Material: Grass, root fibres, webs Height above ground: 1 - 8 m

View into the nest of a Yellow-rumped Thornbill; the speckled top of the chick's head is clearly visible

View into the nest of a Yellow-rumped Thornbill; here the chick is begging for food

View into a different nest of a Yellow-rumped Thornbill; its top is still open - construction is probably not finished yet; because of the open top one can see the soft lining inside

This is the builder of the nest shown above

This nest in dense foliage of a eucalypt in our garden was quite high, about 8 m above ground

Yellow-rumped Thornbill collecting lining material for the nest shown above

Eggs

Size: 18 x 13 mm Colour: White, with light-brown speckles Shape: Tapered oval

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial?/ roaming? Mobility: Sedentary/dispersive Elementary unit: Family clan

Yellow-rumped Thornbills are one of only two species of thornbill observed by us to regularly forage on the ground. We have seen them hunting insects on our lawn and paddock. When they had caught something, they flew to a nearby tree with dense foliage before eating the insect.

Food

Like all other members of the Acanthiza family, Yellow-rumped Thornbills hunt for small insects. We have also seen one taking a relatively large spider (see photos below). As opposed to most other thornbills, they are often found hunting on the ground, not only in the leaf litter of forests, but also in open grassland.

This bird has caught a spider

Here one can see that it has in fact killed the spider