Judith,
Did you notice the tail? The Spotted Quail-thrush flushes with a fanned,
white-tipped tail - quite an obvious feature. If the tail wasn't like this,
one possibility could be Brown Treecreeper. These often confuse birders who
aren't familiar with their habit of feeding on the ground, and they can
appear quite round, much plumper than the other treecreepers. The female
has a small cluster of rufous streaks on the throat. Can't think of
anything with a blue square on the flank.
Cheers
Carol
At 2:54 PM +1000 9/4/04, Judith Lukin-Amundsen wrote:
> *The mystery bird in Capertee: At the campground in Glen Davis, just to
>the right of the buildings facing the slope, there are some bushes between
>the parking area and the track at the back. Here, near the shelter of
>these bushes, Diamond Firetails were feeding on the ground. While watching
>them, I realised a cryptic bird was nearby. Plumaged chiefly in Capertee
>drought ground-colours, the bird was the shape of a big, fat robin - if
>you can imagine such a thing. head, eyes, and beak looked like those of a
>robin, so that the body looked disproportionately round and comfy-large.
>Solitary and inconspicuous, the bird fed steadily on the ground. The only
>colours I could see on it were a small powder-blue square peeping out from
>under the wing on the flank, and a hint of russet at the throat. My
>thought was a juvenile Spotted Quail-thrush - but the books read
>uncertainly on plumage coloration for this, and one author mentions that
>this bird's head would bob when it walks: I did not observe this. However,
>a description given of the bird's behaviour when flushed did match with
>this creature's... So - any ideas?
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Judith
> Lukin-Amundsen
> S-E Qld
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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