20 |
Varied Sittella |
Sightings
We live right on the edge of the Varied Sitellas' habitat.
The nominate race, chrysoptera, was sighted by us on a winter's day in June 2005 on the property where we lived at the time, 20 km south of Narrabri, New South Wales, a group of five worked its way down the bark of a group of Cyprus pine trees searching for insects.
The next sighting came almost 3 years later, in April 2008, 30 km east of Narrabri, on the edge of Mt. Kaputar National Park. Again, the downward motion while foraging in trees was noted, which is different to that of all treecreepers.
Photos
Although slightly unsharp, here an almost frontal view of a bird sitting on a major branch of a Cyprus pine tree (click on image for larger version)
Lateral view of a Varied Sitella 30 km east of Narrabri (click on image for larger version)
View from behind (click on image for larger version)
Some acrobatics... (click on image for larger version)
More acrobatics... (click on image for larger version)