Other Names (World)
Brown Gerygone, Brown Fairy-warbler, Brown Flyeater, Northern Flyeater, Queensland Flyeater, Brown Warbler, Brown Gerygone Warbler, Northern Gerygone (mouki), Northern Warbler (mouki), Northern Bush-warbler, Brown Bush-warbler, Citron Bird
Habits
Singly or in pairs. Often in small family groups in the non-breeding season.
Food
Insects.
Voice
Brisk, sharp, vibrant 'wit-chippitee-wit-chippitee-chippitee-chipitee', 'whitchip-whitchip-whitchip' and other variations. A scolding 'tzip-tzip-tzip'.
Brown Gerygone (Gerygone mouki) [XC583727]
by Andr\u00e1s Schmidt from Tanja, Bega Valley Shire Council, New South Wales, Australia (call, song)
Brown Gerygone (Gerygone mouki) [XC171901]
by Marc Anderson from Border Ranges National Park (near Border Ranges), New South Wales, Australia (song)
Breeding Season (Guide)
June - February but most September - December.
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Nest
Dome-shaped, with a side-entrance, composed of grasses and lichens, bound with cobweb, suspended near the end of a thin branch, often overhanging water.
Eggs (Guide)
2 or 3; matt, white to pink, freckled, spotted and blotched with dull to bright red and purple-red, often in a zone at the the larger end; oval; about 17 x 12 mm. Incubation: 16 - 19 days; apparently by female.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 15 - 16 days. Fed by both parents.
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Grey Gerygone (Gerygone igata), possibly including also Chatham Gerygone (Gerygone albofrontata) and, perhaps, Norfolk Island Gerygone (Gerygone modesta). With exception of Chatham Gerygone (Gerygone albofrontata), these were once considered (together with the extinct Lord Howe I species Lord Howe Gerygone (Gerygone insularis)) to be conspecific, but they differ significantly in plumage and song.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
mouki Mathews, 1903 - North-eastern Qld from Big Tableland, Mt Amos, south to Paluma.
amalia Meise, 1931 - Clarke to Connors Ranges, central-eastern Qld.
richmondi (Mathews, 1915) - Coastal and sub-coastal eastern Australia from Dawes Range, south-eastern Qld, south through eastern New South Wales to western Gippsland, Vic, inland to the eastern scarps of the Great Divide.
Similar Species
Large-billed Gerygone (Gerygone magnirostris) which lacks the white eye-brow, has a white spot at the base of the bill, is browner in color and has faint white spots on the outer tail feathers, Mangrove Gerygone (Gerygone levigaster) which has a short white eye-brow extending only over the eye.
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