From Opus

Black-capped Sittella
Photo by Mike Bouette
Perth Hills, Australia, August 2007

Daphoenositta chrysoptera

[edit] Identification

Orange-yellow iris, yellow eye-ring, legs and feet, long and slender and slightly up-turned bill, greyish above and white below, with varied streaking, pale upper tail coverts with dark-barring underneath, dark tail with a white tip, dark upper wings; southern and eastern birds - the underwings have an orange-rufous band, while in the north the band is white. Males have longer bills than females.
The sub-species differ in the patterns on the head and neck, the amount of streaking and in the wing patterns.

[edit] Distribution

Widely distributed in Australia.

[edit] Taxonomy

Orange-winged Sittella
Photo by Neil
Sydney, Australia

Five subspecies accepted which are sometimes recognized as full species:

• D. c. leucoptera in northern Australia (Fitzroy Range, Western Australia to northwest Queensland) - White-winged Sittella
• D. c. striata in northern Queensland (Cape York Peninsula) - Striated Sittella
• D. c. leucocephala in eastern Queensland (Repulse Bay to Brisbane) - White-headed Sittella
• D. c. chrysoptera in southeast Australia (south-central Queensland to Victoria) - Orange-winged Sittella
• D. c. pileata in southern Australia (North West Cape to western New South Wales and western Victoria - Black-capped Sittella

Papuan Sittella was formerly considered conspecific with this species.
Some authorities place this species in the genus Neositta.

[edit] Habitat

Eucalypt woodlands and forests.

[edit] Behaviour

The diet includes insects; they feed by gleaning on tree trunks or branches, moving downwards or along branches.

The nest is a deep open cup, made of bark and spider web, decorated on the outside with long pieces of bark. They breed cooperatively, the breeding pair having several helpers. Only the breeding female incubates the eggs and broods the young.

[edit] External Links

• View more images of this species on the ABID