Bird of the Month: Rufous Whistler
Posted on 21 May, 2024 by Ivan
Welcome to Bird of the month, a partnership between Connecting Country and BirdLife Castlemaine District. Each month we’re taking a close look at one special local bird species. We’re excited to join forces to deliver you a different bird each month, seasonally adjusted, and welcome suggestions from the community. We are blessed to have the brilliant Jane Rusden and Damian Kelly from BirdLife Castlemaine District writing about our next bird of the month, accompanied by Damian’s stunning photos.
Rufous Whistler (Pachycephala rufiventris)
The Rufous Whistler is a renowned songster, but it’s also one of those species who you can hear calling but have a lot of trouble locating exactly where the bird is. They have a knack for throwing their call so you can’t pinpoint them, despite their beautiful rufous breast and striking white throat banded on black for the male. Often the female will be lurking nearby, but her cryptic colouring makes her even more difficult to find. Luckily, they will sit on an obvious branch, where we can both see and hear their gorgeous and varied song.
Male Rufous Whistler, photo by Damian Kelly
Males and females are quite different in appearance. The male has the distinctive rufous underparts with a black band and white throat. The female lacks the bold black and white markings of the male and the underbody is distinctly streaked. Second-season immature males have very similar colouring to the females which makes identification tricky.
Female Rufous Whistler, showing her much more cryptic colouring. Photo by Damian Kelly
They can be found in a wide variety of habitats ranging from mallee to open forests and shrub lands as well as being adapted to urban areas. In Castlemaine their distinctive calls can be heard in home gardens from early spring. I have heard blackbird mimicry of their calls in our garden in town which can be confusing at times! Their distribution covers much of Australia including a lot of the drier inland. However, they are more common on the east coast and in south-west Western Australia compared to the drier inland zones.
Patterns of movement vary – some are sedentary whilst others move north for winter, returning in spring. Not a lot is known of their movements in many areas. Banding studies have shown that some birds return each year to the same area. It can be a long-lived species with some individuals being identified 14-15 years after first banding.
Breeding is normally in pairs and pairs are usually monogamous with the same pairs breeding each year. Unlike some other Australian birds there are no helpers at the nest. Nests are defended from others and both birds incubate and feed the young. They build an open, cup-shaped nest out of twigs and are often lined with grass that may be in a tree fork or foliage and sometimes in mistletoe. Usually, 2-3 eggs are laid.
This species is largely insectivorous and will take a wide range of prey. They tend to forage higher than other whistler species and are often observed 5-15m above ground. Food may be gleaned from foliage and tree trunks as well as being caught on the wing in short flights. Unlike other whistler species, they rarely feed on the ground.
As the days grow shorter and winter is almost upon us, we can look forward to the heralding of spring in the Rufous Whistlers call. In the meantime, keep an ear out for the Golden Whistler, also a magnificent songster. For more on Golden Whistler, from the wonderful Geoff Park, click here.
To hear the call of the Rufous Whistler, please click here
A beautiful profile of the bird we consider our backyard mascot…or soundtrack at least.
A worthy bird of the month.