I didn’t realise that the sexes could be distinguished visually. So I consulted my library and discovered what to look for – I’ll have to look more closely in future.
Interestingly, HANZAB describes it well but when you look at Plate 39 where the birds are depicted, they seem to have the male and female pictures the wrong way around – grey crown on the male if my eyes are not deceiving me. I think the numbers 1 and 2 on the images are reversed. How to really confuse us amateurs!!
David Rosalky
From: Harvey Perkins [
Sent: Sunday, 29 June 2014 12:03 PM
To: Canberra Birds
Subject: [canberrabirds] Mixed Feeding Flock (MFF)
Just had an impressive MFF through my front garden (in Gleneagles, Kambah).
Brown Thornbills (6), Striated Thornbills (16), Superb Fairy-wren (7), Silvereye (18), Eastern Spinebill (1 male), New Holland Honeyeater (1), White-eared Honeyeater (1), Golden Whistler (1 immature), House Sparrow (2).
This is the first time I've recorded Striated Thornbills here in five years (97th species), and the first time I've ever seen the species foraging through the bare branches of introduced trees (Manchurian Pear and Chinese Pistachio).
