GREY-TAILED TATTLER

Photographed at Monkey Mia, Western Australia April 2015

579          GREY-TAILED TATTLER           Heteroscelus brevipes

Australia          (422)

24-27 cm. Found on estuaries, tidal mudflats, mangroves; wave-washed rocks and reefs; shallow river-margins, coastal or inland. Breeds in c and e Siberia; regular summer visitor to coastal n. Aust. from about Shark Bay (WA) to Sydney; less common on s. coast but regular Corner Inlet and Westernport (Vic). Casual inland, uncommon in Tas.

RED-COLLARED LORIKEET

Photographed Windjana Gorge, Western Australia, May 2015

578            RED-COLLARED LORIKEET                Trichoglossus rubritorquis

Australia             (421)

Was a sub-species of Rainbow Lorikeet but now recognised as a species in its own right. Found in wooded habitats in northern Australia (north-eastern WA, northern NT, and far nw Q). Curiously at end of the dry season many display symptoms of apparent drunkedness, but the cause of this is unknown.

WESTERN GRASSWREN

Photographed at Monkey Mia, Western Australia April 2015

577             WESTERN GRASSWREN              Amytornis textilis

Australia        (420)

15-20 cm. Found in sandy lowlands; depressions in gibber plains with dense low saltbush, bluebush, cotton bush, nitre bush; clumps of swamp changers on watercourses; flood debris; near Shark Bay (WA) sand plain vegetation with acacia shrubs 1-3 m tall over grasses, herbs. The nominate race is only found around coastal sand plains on cw. coast WA, NW Cape-Peron Pen., Shark Bay; subspecies modestus in lowlands of s. NT and Macdonell Ras., to Everard Ras.-Coober Pedy-Williams Creek-w. side of Flinders Ras. (SA); possibly extinct e.SA/NSW. Race myall s. inland SA, Nullarbor Plain-GawlerRas.-Iron Knob.

Note: This was originally listed as the Thick-billed Grasswren but has been split and the population in Monkey Mia (WA) and ne Eyre Pen. (SA) are known as the Western Grasswren, though two different sub-species. The nominate race mentioned above remains known as the Thick-billed Grasswren.

Subspecies myall photographed at Whyalla Conservation Area, February 2016

WESTERN WATTLEBIRD

Photographed at Esperence, Western Australia March 2015.

576              WESTERN WATTLEBIRD                Anthochaera carunculata

Australia              (419)

For a long while this was considered a sub-species of the Little Wattlebird, but has now been recognised as a separate species. 32-36 cm. Range across sw WA. 

WESTERN QUAIL-THRUSH

Photograph near Mount Magnet, Western Australia April 2015

575            WESTERN QUAIL-THRUSH             Cinclosoma marginatum 

Australia      (418)

18-24 cm. Found in mulga-eucalypts, other acacia scrubs, on stony ground; tea-tree/mallee/grevillia on rocky hillocks. Range far sw. NT, n. to Kintore, w. to coast at Shark Bay(WA); s. inland to c. Kalgoorlie-Ct Victorian Desert, e. to Everard Ras (SA).

SLATY-BACKED THORNBILL

Photographed on Nallan Station, Cue, Western Australia April 2015

574          SLATY-BACKED THORNBILL            Acanthiza robustirostris

Australia              (417)

Found in dense mulga,; herbage near salt lakes. 9.5 cm. Range: w. inland Aust.: from Charleville(Q), w. through s. NT, s. to Everard-Musgrave Ras. (SA); to w. coast c. Geraldton-Carnarvon, n. inland to Peak Hill-Ophthalmia R., s. to Yalgoo-Broad Arrow.

WESTERN BOWERBIRD

Photographed on Nallan Station, Cue, Western Australia April 2015, also seen on Coodardy Station.

573          WESTERN BOWERBIRD               Chlamydera guttata

Australia             (416)

Ranges interior and WA from Everard-Musgrave Ras. (nw SA), through ranges of s. NT, e. to Jervois Ra.,n. to MacDonald Downs-Mt Allen, w. to Rwlinson /Warburton Ras. (WA), Pilbara to coast c. eighty Mile Beach, s. to GascoyneR.-Cue-Kathleen Valley-Leonora. Found in rocky hills, frequently visits rock figs.

Bower on Coodardy Station, Cue.

GULL-BILLED TERN

These were photographed at Cue, Western Australia April 2015

572            GULL-BILLED TERN              Sterna nilotica

Australia             (415)

37-43 cm; wingspan 1-1.2 m. Found near fresher brackish wetlands; beaches, mudflats, inland swamps, lakes, grasslands, crops, ploughed lands, airfields. Range all over Australia except driest inland central e. WA and nw. SA. Several races, some of which breed in the inland while others migrate.

DIAMOND DOVE

Photographed near Cue, Western Australia April 2015

571           DIAMOND DOVE             Geopelia cuneata

Australia            (414)

19-22 cm. Found in drier grassy woodlands, scrub near water, wooded watercourses. Ranges across drier parts of all mainland states, except driest deserts; mostly absent from coastal s. Aust., s. WA(s. of Murchison R.) and Nullarbor Plain: scarce Cape York Pen. (Q).