- Chlamydera maculata
Ptilonorhynchus maculatus
Identification
29cm.
- Warm buff head striated and streaked with warm greyish
- Erectile filamentous pink nuchal crest, rest of nape plain brown
- Blackish-brown upperparts and upperwings with extensive terminal and/or subterminal amber to clay-coloured feather-spotting
- Tawny-olive to buff chin, throat, ear-coverts and breast, finely streaked and barred with dusky warm greyish
- Pale buff to cream-coloured rest of underparts, scalloped and barred drab greyish
- Dark brown eye
- Blackish bill
- Olive-brown legs
Sexes similar, but many females lack the pink crest or it's smaller than in males. Juveniles ahve heavy plae central feather streaks on nape.
Similar species
Western Bowerbird is very similar, but note paler underparts in Spotted Bowerbird and plain brown area on nape.
Distribution
Eastern Australia. Found in interior of Queensland and interior of west and central New South Wales south to extreme northwest Victoria.
Locally fairly common to scarce. Declining in most parts of its range as a result of illegal shooting, poisoning, predation by cats and red foxes and widespread loss of habitat.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
It has been considered conspecific with Western Bowerbird in the past.
Habitat
Woodland near water.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds mainly on fruits. Takes also flowers, seeds and arthropods.
Breeding
Breeding season from July to March, display from April to January. A polygynous species. The male builds and attends a bower to attract females. They build a nest alone and also breed alone.
The avenue-type bower is quite large. It's decoration varies geographically, it includes snail shells, bleached bones, pebbles and many other items including human-made ones. When the female arrives the male performs a complex courtship display.
Following mating, females construct nests of a loose saucer of dry twigs lined with finer twigs, usually located some distance from the bower in shrubbery. 2 grey to greenish eggs are laid.
Movements
A resident species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2009. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553507
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Spotted Bowerbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Spotted_Bowerbird
