Slender-billed thornbill

Slender-billed thornbill
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Acanthizidae
Genus: Acanthiza
Species:
A. iredalei
Binomial name
Acanthiza iredalei
Mathews, 1911
Subspecies[2]
  • A. i. iredalei - Mathews, 1911
  • A. i. hedleyi - Mathews, 1912
  • A. i. rosinae - Mathews, 1913

The slender-billed thornbill (Acanthiza iredalei) is a small bird native to Australia. It includes three sub-species:

  • A. i. hedleyi
  • A. i. iredalei
  • A. i. rosinae

This thornbill can be found in shrublands and salt marshes, typically those around salt lakes or low heath on sand plains.[3] It eats mostly insects and spiders captured in the shrubs of its habitat. It rarely feeds on the ground, preferring instead the higher elevations of shrubs and trees.[3]

The slender-billed thornbill is rarely observed alone. They are usually seen in flocks of approximately eight birds or in pairs. Thornbill nests are small and built in low shrubs. They are constructed of grass, bark, cobwebs, and other shrubland debris. Females lay up to three eggs during the breeding season, which runs from July until November.[3]

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Acanthiza iredalei". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22704644A93978754. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22704644A93978754.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Gill F, D Donsker & P Rasmussen (Eds). 2020. IOC World Bird List (v10.2). doi : 10.14344/IOC.ML.10.2.
  3. ^ a b c Pavey, Chris; Ward, Simon (December 2012). "Threatened Species of the Northern Territory: Slender-Billed Thornbill" (PDF). Northern Territory Government: Department of Land Resource Management. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-03-22. Retrieved 2015-09-10.