From Opus
Alternative names: Spotted Ground-bird; Spotted Ground-thrush; Spotted Babbling-thrush; Spotted Ground-dove
- Cinclosoma punctatum
[edit] Identification
24 -30 cm.
Male:
- Black face with white eyebrow
- White patch on sides of black throat
- Grey neck and breast
- Broad black spots on back and flanks
- Black shoulder with white tips
- Greyish-brown tail with white tips
Female:
- Paler and duller than male
- Orange patch on side of buff-white throat
[edit] Distribution
Found in east and southeast Australia and east Tasmania.
Sparse but locally common. No records of anachoreta since 1984.
[edit] Taxonomy
Three subspecies recognized (with one critically endangered or even already extinct):
- C. p. punctatum in southeast Australia
- C. p. anachoreta in Mount Lofty Ranges, southeast south Australia
- C. p. dovei in east Tasmania
[edit] Habitat
Dry open sclerophyll forest and woodland. Prefers rocky hillsides.
[edit] Behaviour
The diet includes insects and other invertebrates, but they also eat small vertebrates and seeds at times. They pick their prey from the ground which they hunt in a slow, meandering fashion.
The breeding season is July-August to December. The female builds the cup-like nest of dry vegetation and puts the nest into a depression in the ground near the base of a tree, shrub, rock, or clump of grass. 2 spotted eggs are laid and are incubated by the female; the male helps to feed the chicks during and after the 19 day fledging period. In any breeding season, one to three broods may be raised.
Resident species.
[edit] References
- 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.
- 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
- Simpson, K and N Day. 1998. Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7136-4877-5
[edit] External Links
Welcome to BirdForum.
