Tannin
Common; sedentary.
I'm unsure about the ID of this bird.
It looks more like a young robin than anything else, but I have doubts. For starters, it seemed too small, though judging size is always a risky business. My first thought — no, make that my second thought, my first thought was "WTF is that little thing?" — my thought was Red-capped Robin. Why Red-capped? Perhaps because of the small size and from some angles there seemed to be a hint of that rusty colour over the bill.
But I'm far from convinced.
Area: Killawarra State Park, eastern Victoria, near Wangaratta.
Habitat: Plantation of young ironbarks along a creekline, entirely surrounded by mature box-ironbark forest/woodland, mostly Grey Box but ironbark in patches too.
I've not seen robins at this particular site before, but in the general area I've seen Scarlett, Jacky Winter, Yellow, and Red-capped. It looks like a sensible sort of place to spot Hooded too.
Other birds that were around at the time: dozens of pardalotes, nearly all young ones, mostly spotted. Never seen so many pardalotes! Also some Weebills, quite a few Western Gerygones, a group of Speckled Warblers, the usual Superb Fairy-wrens and Yellow-rumped Thornbills and Rufous Whistlers, various other larger birds I won't mention.
I spent several hours there and didn't see any robins at all, but of course that doesn't mean there were not any there. I have never in my life seen so many small, insectivorous birds! It's one thing to fall in with a mixed-species feeding flock for a little while until it moves on, but another thing entirely to have it stay put until you are too hungry to keep watching. After some brunch, I went back and the little birds were all still there and still active. Fantastic place. If it hadn't been for the weather, I'd probably be still there too!
It looks more like a young robin than anything else, but I have doubts. For starters, it seemed too small, though judging size is always a risky business. My first thought — no, make that my second thought, my first thought was "WTF is that little thing?" — my thought was Red-capped Robin. Why Red-capped? Perhaps because of the small size and from some angles there seemed to be a hint of that rusty colour over the bill.
But I'm far from convinced.
Area: Killawarra State Park, eastern Victoria, near Wangaratta.
Habitat: Plantation of young ironbarks along a creekline, entirely surrounded by mature box-ironbark forest/woodland, mostly Grey Box but ironbark in patches too.
I've not seen robins at this particular site before, but in the general area I've seen Scarlett, Jacky Winter, Yellow, and Red-capped. It looks like a sensible sort of place to spot Hooded too.
Other birds that were around at the time: dozens of pardalotes, nearly all young ones, mostly spotted. Never seen so many pardalotes! Also some Weebills, quite a few Western Gerygones, a group of Speckled Warblers, the usual Superb Fairy-wrens and Yellow-rumped Thornbills and Rufous Whistlers, various other larger birds I won't mention.
I spent several hours there and didn't see any robins at all, but of course that doesn't mean there were not any there. I have never in my life seen so many small, insectivorous birds! It's one thing to fall in with a mixed-species feeding flock for a little while until it moves on, but another thing entirely to have it stay put until you are too hungry to keep watching. After some brunch, I went back and the little birds were all still there and still active. Fantastic place. If it hadn't been for the weather, I'd probably be still there too!
