Orange Winged Sitella

SITELLA  Daphoenositta chrysoptera

 

I was pleased to see this group Orange Winged Sitella as they hunted for food yesterday. They were on the edge of  the woodlands in the Mt. Piper Reserve, a few kilometres south of Broadford.

It was bright and sunny winter's day and many small birds were about.








Sitella are very active little birds and seldom stop in one place for more than a few seconds. The birds were busy pulling the dried bark of a dead Black Wattle tree, eating whatever insects they were finding as they went. Unlike other tree creepers, the sitellas, generally start their foraging from the  top of a tree and work their way down. This does make photographing them a little easier than trying to catch a bird before it moves up and away.