On Thu, 21 Nov 1996, Alan McBride wrote:
> I would go as far as to say that I doubt that most Aussies have a real
> Atherton SW on their list! I suspect they have all ended up frustrated and
> "ticked" Largebilled SW in desperation two hours before having to leave the
> Tablelands, while going away convinced it was "a doddle to clean up on the
> Tablelands"!
This thread is getting a wee bit silly!
I saw Atherton Scrubwrens in a few spots on the Atherton and Mount Carbine
Tablelands. I may be wrong or stating the obvious here, but aren't they
predominantly terrestrial or at least they mostly get around on fallen
logs, etc. near the ground, whereas Large-billed SWs are predominantly
arboreal. I seem to recall that they sounded different too. They were
generally in groups of 6+, and I've rarely seen any other scrubwren (LB,
White-browed, Yellow-throated) consistently in groups of that size.
Otherwise they are just about the quintessential "little brown bird" -
uniformly chestnut-brown, with a large bill.
On one trip some years ago, I started birding before first light at Mount
Hypimamee (The Crater), and found Chowchillas, Australian Fernwrens &
Atherton Scrubwrens to be fairly abundant in the very first light, along
the edge of the tarmac road. The dazzling eyebrows & ear-splitting calls
of the Fernwrens were rather obvious before there was much light at all.
I've seen ASWs at Julatten too, a number of times.
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Lawrie Conole
Geelong, Victoria, Australia
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