Slender-billed Weaver
Ploceus pelzelni
Miniscule yellow weaver with an unusually long and slender bill. Breeding males have a clean black face mask and yellow underparts. Females have a clean, pale-yellow head, unlike other weavers. Found in wetland habitats including swamps, marshes, and mangroves, and sometimes in adjacent savanna or scrub. Usually in pairs or small groups; not as social as some weavers. Vocalizations are typical of weavers: “chet” notes and a sizzling, “radio static” song. Most similar to Little Weaver, but found in different habitat, and has a much longer bill. Separated from all other weavers by its small size and bill shape.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Ploceus pelzelni
- Authority
- (Hartlaub, 1887)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Ploceidae
- Genus
- Ploceus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Singing Quail
Dactylortyx thoracicus
Small, retiring quail of forest understory. Rarely seen, but can be located by listening for noisy rustling in the leaf litter as birds scratch like chickens. Prefers to run away rather than flush. Loud song often reveals its presence, given mainly early and late in the day: first few notes similar to Little Tinamou song, but then breaks into rollicking choruses that can be almost deafening if close by. Male has rusty face and gray body, female colors reversed, with gray face and rusty body.
Pink-eared Duck
Malacorhynchus membranaceus
A distinctive species with fine zebra-striped plumage and a long and shovel-shaped bill giving a fang-like appearance. Typically feeds by swimming in tight circles. Like many waterbirds in inland Australia, it moves around a lot, and can be found in very large numbers when conditions are right.
Belford's Melidectes
Melidectes belfordi
A large, common honeyeater of upper montane cloud forest. Body gray with white scaling on the back, olive wing feathers and buffy under the base of the tail. Black head with prominent white facial stripe from the base of the bill, pale blue eye ring and bare facial skin behind the eye with a small white line behind it. Similar to Cinnamon-browed and Yellow-browed Melidectes and it hybridizes with the latter. Belford’s however has blue facial skin, dark bill and lacks red wattles.
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