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Golden Whistler

(Pachycephala pectoralis)
Alternative names: "Yellow-breasted Whistler", "Thickhead", "Thunderbird", "Cutthroat" "Coachwhip-bird"
Size: 16-18 cm

Habitat
(for details refer to a field guide)

There are in total four races of Golden Whistlers in Australia - for details see a field guide. Altogether their range extends from Cape Melville, QLD, in the north, along the coast and the hill ranges in the east of the continent, all the way through eastern QLD, eastern NSW, VIC, Tasmania and the islands in the Bass Strait, to southern SA, including Eyre peninsula and Kangaroo Island. There is also a population in the south-west corner of WA; the north-eastern boundary of their range is defined by a line through about Kalbarri and Kalgoorlie to the south coast.

Golden Whistlers can be found in a variety of habitats, from rainforest to open forest and even mallee, with a preference for dense, low, vegetation (such as undergrowth).

Sightings

Golden Whistlers are much less common west of the Great Dividing Range than they are in the east. They are also more uncommon than Rufous Whistlers.

After a first sighting at our former neighbour's property, 20 km south of Narrabri, NSW, in 2003, it took us 3 years and a trip to the east coast to see another Golden Whistler, in May of 2006 at Royal National Park, south of Sydney.

Since then, there have been several, but infrequent sightings in the Narrabri area, in bushland 30 km north of town, then 25 km west of town (i.e., out in the plains towards Wee Waa) during 2007 and 2008.

The area where we now find them most reliably is a part of Mt. Kaputar National Park, 30 km east of Narrabri. There we succeeded to positively identify female birds when observing pairs foraging through cypress pine bushland together. Several pairs were observed in this area in July/August 2008. Found in close proximity to their cousins, the Rufous Whistler. While found regularly in bushland, the first and so far only sighting of a Golden Whistler in open farmland, just 10 km further west at Eulah Creek, came only in April 2011.

Seen also in various locations in southern and central QLD, such as e.g. Byfield National Park and Mt. Walsh National Park, in July 2009.

Golden Whistlers were found by C. Kellenberg in large numbers on Lord Howe Island in July 2010.

Photos

Frontal view of a hunched male Golden Whistler, with its head partly obscured by a spider's web

Lateral view of a male bird

Here one can see the back of a male Golden Whistler

Male Golden Whistler (in bad light) launching itself from its perch

Frontal view of a female Golden Whistler

Near-frontal view of a hunched female Golden Whistler; an excact identification of the bird is very difficult

Nearly frontal view of a female Golden Whistler; note how difficult it still is to identify the bird correctly from this angle

Lateral view of a female Golden Whistler ; now the pale yellow undertail coverlets are clearly visible, making the identification easy

Rear view of a female Golden Whistler from underneath, showing the characteristic pale yellow undertail coverts

Rear view of a female Golden Whistler from above, an angle at which the bird is extremely difficult to discern from a female Rufous Whistler and also some robins

Young male Golden Whistler moulting into its adult plumage; the first yellow feathers have just developed

Frontal view of what is likely a young female Golden Whistler

The same bird as above, now seen from underneath

Immature male Golden Whistler seen from behind

Here another view of an immature bird from behind

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial Mobility: Partly migratory Elementary unit: Pair

Food

Like all other members of the Pachycephala family known to us, Golden Whistlers forage through trees for insects.