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Yellow-rumped ThornbillAlternative names: "Yellow-tailed Thornbill", "Yellow-rumped Tit", "Yellow-rumped Tit-Warbler", "Yellow-tail" |
Sightings
Like Weebills, Yellow-rumped Thornbills were also regular visitors to the place where we lived from 2003 to 2006, 20 km south of Narrabri, New South Wales, on the edge of Jack's Creek State Forest. But while we only got occasional visits by Weebills, Yellow-rumped Thornbills 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.
Photos
Near-frontal view of a Yellow-rumped Thornbill (click on image for larger version)
Lateral view of a slightly dazed Yellow-rumped Thornbill that had a run-in with a window pane, but in the end recovered (click on image for larger version)
Yellow-rumped Thornbill on our lawn (click on image for full-size display)
Yellow-rumped Thornbills on our lawn, hiding in the shade of a tree on a stinking hot day (click on image for larger version); like all birds they use their open bills and slightly spread wings for evaporative cooling; one displays its yellow rump very prominently, from which their name is derived
Close-range shot of a Yellow-rumped Thornbill on our lawn (click on image for larger version)
Yellow-rumped Thornbill in evening sunlight (click on image for larger version)
Here a Yellow-rumped Thornbill just out of the bathtub (click on image for larger version)
Nest
View into the nest of a Yellow-rumped Thornbill (I); the speckled top of the chick's head is clearly visible (click on image for larger version)
View into the nest of a Yellow-rumped Thornbill (II); here the chick is begging for food (click on image for larger version)
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 (click on image for larger version)
Habits
We have observed Yellow-rumped Thornbills 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.