From Opus

Male of the nominate subspecies
Photo by Tom Tarrant
Cunnamulla, SW Queensland, Australia, April 2007

Alternative names: Chestnut-breasted Groundbird; Chestnut-breasted Babbling-thrush; Black-vented Ground-thrush

Cinclosoma castaneothorax

[edit] Identification

21 - 25cm.
Male:

• Warm olive-brown upperparts
• Rich cinnamon-yellow upper breast, reddish-brown in marginatum
• Face pattern like other Quail-thrushes, white eyebrow, broad white streak on side of black throat, rest greyish-brown
• Castaneothorax with more chestnut upperparts, marginatum darker olive-brown
• Black lower breast, cinnamon-yellow flanks, black line between flanks and white belly, broken in castaneothorax

Female:

• Like female of Cinnamon Quail-thrush but with rufous wash on grey breast

[edit] Distribution

Found in Australia.
Marginatum common, nominate uncommon.

[edit] Taxonomy

There are 2 subspecies:

• C. c. castaneothorax in east Australia (Central Queensland south to north-central New South Wales)
• C. c. marginatum in central Western Australia, southwest Northern Territory and extreme northwest South Australia

Marginatum (also called Western Quail-thrush) was in the past considered to be a subspecies of Cinnamon Quail-thrush. The subspecies alisteri of the latter was then included in this species.

[edit] Habitat

Stony hills with scrubby vegetation. Prefers low acacia-covered ridges.

[edit] Behaviour

Feeds on insects, spiders and seeds.
Forages on the ground, slowly walking. Elusive and shy.
Breeding season variable, does not breed at all in drought. The nest is a loose bowl of grass, leaves and twigs placed on the ground under a tree or shrub. Lays 2 eggs.
Resident species with some local dispersal according to rainfall.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2007. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553422
3. Simpson, K and N Day. 1998. Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7136-4877-5

• List of references

[edit] External Links