Australian Pipit
Anthus australis
A small, pale brownish terrestrial bird with heavily streaked chest and back. Tail fairly long, showing obvious white edges in flight. Typically found walking around on the ground or perched on fence-posts. Tail moves up and down as it walks with bobbing gait. Long pinkish legs with long claw on hindtoe. In similar habitat, Horsfield's Bushlark is a more rotund, rusty-colored bird with heavier bill; Eurasian Skylark has shorter bill and short crest; and Rufous Songlark lacks white in the tail. Common in open grasslands and agricultural areas, sometimes in flocks.
Identification
It is a slender bird, 16 to 19 cm long, and weighs about 40 grams. The plumage is pale brown above with dark streaks. The underparts are pale with streaks on the breast. There is a pale stripe over the eye and dark malar and moustachial stripes. The long tail has white outer-feathers and is often wagged up and down. The legs are long and pinkish-brown while the bill is slender and brownish.<p>It has a sparrow-like chirruping call and a drawn-out tswee call.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Anthus australis
- Authority
- Vieillot, 1818
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Motacillidae
- Genus
- Anthus
Behavior
It is a bird of open habitats such as grassland, farmland, roadsides, dry river beds, sand dunes and open woodland. It forages on the ground for small invertebrates such as beetles, spiders and insect larvae. It will also eat seeds such as those of grasses.<p>The breeding season begins in August. The cup-shaped nest is placed at the base of vegetation or in the shelter of a stone. It is made of grass and built by the female. Two to five eggs are laid, three or four being most common. They are buff-white with brown blotching and are incubated for 14 to 15 days. The young birds are fed by both parents and are able to fly after 14 to 16 days.
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Scaly Chatterer
Argya aylmeri
An unusual slim babbler with a very long tail. Paler than most other babblers in range, gray-brown overall with scaling on the breast, a yellowish bill, and pale blue bare skin around the eye. Found in areas of dense undergrowth within dry thorn savanna and thorn scrub, almost always in small groups. Somewhat similar to other babblers, especially Rufous Chatterer, but much paler and generally found in drier habitat. An inconspicuous and skulking bird that is usually detected by call: quiet, high-pitched “tsit” notes that sound like a dry twig scraping on a windowpane.
Sumba Green-Pigeon
Treron teysmannii
A green pigeon with striking yellowish markings and edgings on the wing. Male has a chestnut lower back, while the back of the female is entirely green. Readily identified within its limited range, as there are no other green pigeons on Sumba island. Found singly or in pairs within canopy of forest and in secondary areas where tall trees remain. Small groups gather at fruiting trees. Calls include a soft “woop-woop,” grunting sounds, and weak, rising whistled notes.
Pallas's Leaf Warbler
Phylloscopus proregulus
Tiny, chunky, sprightly warbler with a short tail and a big head. Strong head pattern: three bright yellow stripes on an olive green head. Overlaps considerably with other similar leaf warblers throughout non-breeding range, so identification warrants caution; always note strong head pattern, bright yellow rump, and overall bright coloration. Very active while feeding, often hovering to pick insects from leaves. Joins mixed-species flocks. Breeds in coniferous and mixed forest in the Siberian taiga, and winters in a wide range of forested and semi-wooded habitats. Song complex and prolonged, a beautiful rambling series of clinking, chirping, trilling, and warbling with many repeated phrases. Call is a twangy “jwee.” Vagrants often turn up in trees on coastal headlands.
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