Little Grassbirds do cock their tails sometimes, and this is probably the most
likely identification of what you saw.
Regards
Frank Antram
-----Original message-----
From: Peter Shute
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2009 12:20:05 +1100
To: 'Tony Eales '
""
Subject: Unknown bird
> I've found that I have to be very close to see the striations on a Little
> Grassbird well, and haven't seen it very often despite seeing them almost
> daily. It's certainly not as obvious as the picture in Pizzey and Knight. I
> can't remember if I've seen them cock their tails. They would be a very
> likely bird to see there.
>
> Peter Shute
>
> wrote on Friday, 20 February 2009 12:38 PM:
>
> > Hi all, I just returned from a trip to Melbourne ( and many
> > great thanks to all who responded to my RFI ). On the last
> > day I took a walk along Moonie Ponds near the airport and saw
> > a bird that has so far eluded my attempts to classify it. It
> > was among some dense reeds on a small pond and disappeared
> > down into the reeds rather than flying out and away in the
> > way the Superb FWs in the reeds did. It was small and very
> > similar to a FW in form even down to the cocked tail. On the
> > other hand it had a striped back and a short tail. Given this
> > I would like to say Striated Fieldwren or perhaps Little
> > Grassbird. Against this I could see no striations on the
> > breast. Although it never held itself in such a way that I
> > could view it's breast well I was actively searching for that
> > very feature and I think I should have noticed some. So this
> > made me think of a very plain coloured GH Cisticola but the
> > cocked tail for me speaks against this. Not being at all
> > familiar with Melbourne (or SFWs & LGBs either) and what are
> > likely habitats for these species around Melbourne I can't
> > make "balance of probability" argument to sort these out or
> > even rule out a juv Southern Emu Wren, another species that I
> > am entirely unfamiliar with. I won't be counting any
> > conclusion as a tick but I would love to feel I have some
> > closure. It is hard for me to see a bird quite well and yet
> > still not be able to nail the ID.
> > Cheers Tony
> > ==========www.birding-aus.org
> > birding-aus.blogspot.com
> >
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>
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