Chestnut-rumped Heathwren
Hylacola pyrrhopygia
The chestnut-rumped heathwren is a small bushland bird with an olive-brown back with conspicuous reddish-brown rump and tail coverts. It has a streaked brown-on-white chest and the belly and rear flanks are grey-buff. There is a dark subterminal band with a white tip on the usually erect tail. Both sexes have a dull white eyebrow; eyes are yellow, while bill, legs, and feet are grey. There are only small differences between the subspecies that are not easily recognised in the field. It measures 14 cm (5.5 in) in length.
ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Shy Heathwren
Hylacola cauta
The birds are cock-tailed with a chestnut rump that darkens towards the tip. Their feathers are white with brown streaking underneath and greyish-brown on the back and crown. They have a white eyebrow, tail tip and patch on the flight feathers, and a black bill. Their eyes are brown to yellowish-brown and legs are slate-brown. Females have slightly duller colouring, and immature birds are duller again with some of these being fawn-coloured underneath. They have a total length when adults of 12–14 cm (4.7–5.5 in).
ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Where you might meet both
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Play today's Daily BirdPhotos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Chestnut-rumped Heathwren and Shy Heathwren.