Adults: Above, rich grey with slight blue tone. Crown, fine black streaks. Rump, dull russet. Wings, darker grey-brown. Tail, dusky with white inner tips on all but central pair of feathers. Below, plain white. Eye, red. Bill, black. Feet, black.
Voice
Call: High, plaintive whistled 'seee, seee' in contact. Harsh 'churr, churr' in alarm. Song: High-pitched up-and=down warbled and whistled twittering, resembling the song of the Brown Thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla).
Slaty-backed Thornbill (Acanthiza robustirostris) [XC165016]
by Stewart Ford from Ularring, Western Australia, Australia (song)
Slaty-backed Thornbill (Acanthiza robustirostris) [XC383152]
by Marc Anderson from Mount Gibson Sanctuary, Western Australia, Australia (call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
July - November. Also at other times depending on rainfall.
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Nest
Oval, with an entrance near the top., and composed of fine dried grasses bound with spiders' web and cocoons, placed among slender branches of a bush.
Eggs (Guide)
2 or 3; white with pink tinge, speckled finely with rust-red markings, often forming a zone at the larger end; oblong-oval; about 16 x 12 mm.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
BirdLife International Species Factsheet