Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher
Bias musicus
Unusual, chunky, short-tailed, crested, yellow-eyed member of the vanga family. Males are strikingly black-and-white, with a small white patch at the front of the wing. Females have a chestnut back, blackish head, and pale underparts. The wings are short and rounded, and the flight is weak. Found in the canopy of humid forest, at low and middle elevations, often along forest edge and clearings. The variable song consists of slurred whistles. Calls include rasps and clearer bulbul-like notes.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Bias musicus
- Authority
- (Vieillot, 1818)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Platysteiridae
- Genus
- Bias
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Spotted Pardalote
Pardalotus punctatus
Tiny colorful bird with short stubby bill, bright red patch on rump, and entirely white eyebrow. Note that the very front of the eyebrow is white (compare Striated Pardalote). Upperparts, including crown, primarily black covered in white spots. Plumage has minor variations across range. In some locations has yellow throat and/or rump. Voice is a very clear and repetitive double "ding". Very common in woodlands and eucalypt forest within its range, which covers most of Australia. Makes small nest burrows in soil banks.
Goldenface
Pachycare flavogriseum
A small, brightly-colored bird of foothill and lower montane forest canopy. Bright yellow underparts, face and forehead. Gray back and crown, bordered with black which widens at the back of the neck to form a half-collar. Obvious white spots on some wing feather tips, meeting in 2 lines down the back. Unmistakable appearance. Explosive whistlerlike “whip!” notes or repeated “chikki-chewitt!”.
Southern Emuwren
Stipiturus malachurus
A tiny, buff-brown bird with an enormously long tail. Tail is much longer and far more spindly than that of fairywrens. Females have dark streaks on the crown and back and are warm buffy-brown underneath. Males are similar, except they have a sky-blue throat. Typically very shy, they live in coastal heathland in southern Australia and are unlikely to be seen unless you are actively looking for them.
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