Chestnut-rumped Thornbill

In our garden we have recorded over one hundred different species of birds over about 22 years of residence here. About forty of these are what I would regard as resident, that is, they are present all the time or daily visitors. About a similar number are regular visitors, that is, they may be seen once a week or even only once a month. Some of the seasonal visitors would fall into this category. The remainder would be classified as vagrants, occurring only from time to time with no observable pattern to their appearance.

Yellow-rumped Thornbills are resident in our garden. I have seen Yellow Thornbills here a few times over the years and in the nearby districts quite a few times. The same could be said of the Chestnut-rumped Thornbill. This species was a regular visitor to our garden in the late 1990s and 2000, but my records only show a few sightings here since then.

From time to time over recent days we were aware of a different bird call in the garden but I was unable to track it down. A small flock eventually came to the bird bath and in so doing they revealed themselves to us. They didn’t stay for long and I was only able to get one rather poor photo. If you look closely you may be able to see a little of the rusty coloured tail. As they fly away from you, this area is a bright chestnut colour; they are aptly named.

Chestnut-rumped Thornbill

Chestnut-rumped Thornbills are essentially a bird of the inland of Australia. Murray Bridge (where I live) is about as far south as they are found. They can also be found throughout much of northern South Australia, western New South Wales, south-western Queensland, central Australia and southern Western Australia.

UPDATE: since taking the photograph above the Chestnut-rumped Thornbills have visited the garden again. This time I was able to get some better shots of them.

Click on the photos to enlarge.

Chestnut-rumped Thornbill

Chestnut-rumped Thornbill

Chestnut-rumped Thornbill