Mangrove Gerygone (Gerygone) [XC653118]
by nick talbot from Inskip, Gympie Regional, Queensland, Australia (uncertain)
(Gerygone levigaster) [XC708623]
by Drew Davison from Nightcliff, Darwin Municipality, Northern Territory, Australia (dawn song)
Breeding Season (Guide)
October - March, but regulated by seasonal rains.
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Nest
Dome-shaped, with a hooded entrance, composed of fine grass-stalks and similar materials, suspended from a thin branch, often near a nest of wasps.
Eggs (Guide)
2 or 3; matt, warm white to pink-buff, densely speckled red-brown, often in a zone at the larger end; oval; about 17 x 12 mm. Incubation: about 12 days; probably by female.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 14 - 17 days. Fed by both parents.
Subspecies
Probably forms a species group with Fan-tailed Gerygone (Gerygone flavolateralis) and Western Gerygone (Gerygone fusca), and in past sometimes treated as conspecific with Western Gerygone (Gerygone fusca). Has been thought to be related to Golden-bellied Gerygone (Gerygone sulphurea). Was considered possibly conspecific with Plain Gerygone (Gerygone inornata). In past, sometimes considered to include extinct Lord Howe Gerygone (Gerygone insularis) (Lord Howe I) as a subspecies.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
levigaster Gould, 1843 - Coastal northern Australia from south-western Kimberley Divide at the north-western edge of the Great Sandy Desert, WA, east through NT to Cape York Peninsula.
cantator (Weatherill, 1908) - Coastal eastern Australia from Cleveland Bay, north-eastern Qld, south to the Sydney region.
pallida Finsch, 1898 - Coastal southern New Guinea from Triton Bay and R Mimika east to Port Moresby region.
Similar Species
Within range only with Dusky Gerygone (Gerygone tenebrosa) which has a white eye and lacks any white on the tips of the outer tail feathers and Large-billed Gerygone (Gerygone magnirostris) which lack a white eye-brow, has a white spot at base of bill, and faint white spots on the outer tail feathers.
Compare Images
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
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet