Tasmanian Thornbill
Acanthiza ewingii
The Tasmanian Thornbill (Acanthiza ewingii) is a rare gerygones, thornbills, scrubwrens, and alli found only in Australia, weighing about 7 g. The Tasmanian Thornbill is a small bushland member of the Acanthizidae family, endemic to Tasmania and the Bass Strait Islands.
About the Tasmanian Thornbill
The Tasmanian Thornbill is a small bushland member of the Acanthizidae family, endemic to Tasmania and the Bass Strait Islands. It is a common bird in these regions and is often found occupying the colder, wetter portions of them. The brown thornbill will typically occupy the correspondingly drier portions of habitat.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How to identify it
The Tasmanian Thornbill is olive-brown above, darkening toward the back and tail, and can exhibit a patch of reddish-brown colouration on the forehead. The wings are dark grey with olive-brown edge lining. Grey on light grey scalloping is present from the chin to breast, with similar scalloping occurring on the sides of the head. The bill, feet, and legs are all dark grey and the eyes are distinctly large and dark, with red irises. It's long, thin, thorn-shaped beak is a distinguishing characteristic of the Acanthiza (thornbill) family. Voice: The Tasmanian Thornbill has the warbling style of call that is characteristically attributed to the Acanthizidae (Australian warbler) family, and its main call has been described phonetically as a zit zit zit sound.
Where it lives
When to see it
Best months: January, February, March, April, May, August, September, October, November, December, with peak activity in November. It is a variable species across most of its range.
Easily confused with
Quick questions
- How do you identify a Tasmanian Thornbill?
- The Tasmanian Thornbill is olive-brown above, darkening toward the back and tail, and can exhibit a patch of reddish-brown colouration on the forehead. Full identification notes are on this page.
- How big is a Tasmanian Thornbill?
- The Tasmanian Thornbill is a tiny sized bird weighing about 7 g.
- Where can you see a Tasmanian Thornbill?
- The Tasmanian Thornbill is endemic to Australia, which is the only country where it occurs.
- What birds look similar to a Tasmanian Thornbill?
- The Tasmanian Thornbill is most easily confused with the Mountain Thornbill, the Western Thornbill and the Slender-billed Thornbill.
- Is the Tasmanian Thornbill endangered?
- The Tasmanian Thornbill is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Learn the Tasmanian Thornbill for real
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