Scricciolo di brughiera dal groppone castano

Identificazione

The chestnut-rumped heathwren is a small bushland bird with an olive-brown back with conspicuous reddish-brown rump and tail coverts. It has a streaked brown-on-white chest and the belly and rear flanks are grey-buff. There is a dark subterminal band with a white tip on the usually erect tail. Both sexes have a dull white eyebrow; eyes are yellow, while bill, legs, and feet are grey. There are only small differences between the subspecies that are not easily recognised in the field. It measures 14 cm (5.5 in) in length.

Tassonomia

The chestnut-rumped heathwren was first described by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors and the American physician and naturalist Thomas Horsfield in 1827. The generic name Hylacola derives from the Greek hylē 'woodland' and the Latin -cola 'dweller'. The specific epithet pyrrhopygia derives from Greek pyrrhos 'flame-coloured, red' and pyge 'rump'. It is also known colloquially as the scrub warbler.There are three subspecies: Hylacola pyrrhopygia pyrrhopygia in New South Wales and Victoria; H. p. parkeri in the Mt Lofty Ranges of South Australia; and H. p. pedleri in the southern Flinders Ranges of South Australia.

Nome scientifico

Hylacola pyrrhopygia

Autorità

(Vigors & Horsfield, 1827)

Ordine

Passeriformi

Famiglia

Acanthizidae

Genere

Hylacola

Areale e habitat

The chestnut-rumped heathwren occurs in southeastern Australia from the Granite Belt of southeast Queensland through eastern New South Wales, Victoria, and southeast South Australia. In Victoria, it ranges inland to the Grampians and Bendigo region, but is more usual in coastal parts. In New South Wales, it occurs inland as far as the Warrumbungles and Temora. Scattered populations occur in the Flinders and Mt Lofty Ranges, and the Fleurieu Peninsula of South Australia. Its preferred habitats are heaths of coastal, mountain and hinterland areas, and the dense undergrowth of forests and woodland. It is sedentary and uncommon within its range.

Migrazione

Resident species

Conservazione

Although the population of chestnut heathwrens is declining, the species is currently classified as Least Concern by the IUCN. However, it is listed as Endangered in South Australia and Vulnerable in Victoria, with continued fragmentation and loss of habitat, and predation by introduced predators, being regarded as the main pressures.

Tendenza della popolazione

declining