The chestnut-tailed thornbill (Acanthiza uropygialis) is an Australian bird that is also known as the chestnut-rumped thornbill and chestnut-rumped tit-warbler. It is found in dry inland scrub country south of the Tropic of Capricorn.
It is a small bird that is not quite four inches in length. Males and females are similar in appearance, which includes upperparts that are greyish brown and underparts that are a dull greyish white. The wings are dusky brown, the tail black with a white tip and the rump a rich chestnut colour. There are whitish freckles on the forehead and ear coverts. The bill is dark brown and the eyes are white. The legs are almost black.
It has a long, animated song and, when in flocks, produces a steady twittering sound.
The chestnut-tailed thornbill is usually found in groups, especially outside the breeding season. It spends much of its time on the ground or lower levels of scrub vegetation, feeding on insects.
Breeding takes places from August to December, when two broods are usually raised, two to four eggs being laid each time. A domed nest is built, with a side entrance, often in a hollow on a dead tree or behind loose bark. The nest can be at any height from three to eighteen feet up a tree.
The nest consists of grass and strips of bark bound together with cobwebs and lined with fur, hair and feathers.
© John Welford
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