Buff-rumped Thornbills

  Buff-rumped Thornbill (Acanthiza reguloides)

These tiny little birds are very hard to catch sitting still. They are constantly on the move, from the ground to small shrubs and trees. It is obvious they are around because they call constantly as they move from place to place abd branch to branch. They continue to call as they search for food,  'sipp, sipp, sipp'.

People in some regions know these  as Little Thornbills. Not surprising they are such tiny birds, no bigger than a mouse in the body, yet their highly pitched voices can be heard over quite a distance.




They are very pretty, when you can actually get a good glimpse of them. They seem to be a brighter yellow at the moment, more so than when I followed them earlier in the year. They look quite distinguished with their white ringed dark eyes, speckled faces over yellow breasts and underparts and black feet and beaks.

Usually I see them groups of four or five, but sometimes they forage in pairs. Whilst they do not seem timid or overly cautious, they usually manage to keep just out of camera range. If I move toward,  trying to focus on them amongst the twigs and branches of shrubs, they move off a little way. I move forward again, and they move on some more. We do this dance three or four times, until they get sick of the game and flitter off into the distance.




This little fellow, or lass, sat for quite a while on a branch, singing away; in a voice not the usual 'chip, chip,' or 'sipp, sipp, sipp'.