Black-and-buff Woodpecker

A rather small corella-type cockatoo. An entirely white, short-tailed, noisy parrot with light blue bare skin around the eyes. Chest and belly often stained slightly brownish. Undertail and underwing yellowish in flight, but difficult to see. Often raises tall white crest. Found in most types of forest up to 1700 meters of elevation. Unmistakable within its range. Voice loud and obtrusive, including a harsh croaking “reh-reh.”

Heavily patterned terrestrial bird of eastern South Australia, northwestern Victoria, and western New South Wales. White eyebrow and moustache, with a deep chestnut-brown back and intricately patterned wing. Female has white belly and gray chest, male white belly, gray flanks, and black chest and throat. Note gray sides rather than warm brown sides of Cinnamon and Chestnut-breasted quail-thrushes. Usually seen walking around in areas of open mallee woodland and shrubland. Call a long, high-pitched whistled "seeeep."

Breeding adult males are black above and rich yellow below with white wingbars. In nonbreeding plumage the upperparts are greenish-yellow, but the wings are still black with white wingbars. The female is similar in appearance to a nonbreeding male. These birds are quite vocal and can produce a wide variety of calls. The most commonly heard is the whistle “twiii tuiii twiiii.” Apart from this, it utters variable “chirrs” and chattering. The song is a trilled “wheeeee-tee.” Common Iora are frequently seen in wooded areas, scrub, and cultivated lands.