My wife and I recently returned from our first trip to Australia
and we generally had few problems with identification other than
with calls. However, one bird seen quite well at the end of our
trip was puzzling.
Briefly, the bird was in low woodland in southern part of Kakadu NP.
Upperparts and breast were as for Willie Wagtail (unlike Flycatchers)
but with little or no eyestripe. Underparts were a uniform sandy-buff
similar in colour to underparts of male Rufous Whistler, but paler.
Song apparently resembled that of WW (but I have not really mastered
OZ songs).
Bird was initially seen flying down to unsealed road to pick up things
and returning to low branches. Later it was seen flycatching around
trees. Its tail was often cocked up over its back and sometimes spread
in typical Fantail fashion. It was never seen to swing from side to side
in the usual WW fashion.
I understand that WW can more or less suppress its eyestripe, but the
colouration of underparts and behaviour do not seem to fit WW. Does
the WW go in for dust bathing, as colour was not very different to
that of dust on the road? If so it would have to have been thorough
as underparts seemed uniform in colour. The behaviour also seemed
much more like that of the other fantails we had seen (Rufous, Grey
and Northern Grey) than WW. Do the Rhipiduras hybridise at all?
For the moment, I have put it down as an aberrant WW; comments for or
against this diagnosis would be welcome.
David Sales
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