Adults: Head and crest, black. Back, wings and tail, olive-green. All tail feathers tipped white except central one-two pairs. Cheek, white, extending to throat. Center throat and breast black, grading to mottled white on belly. Flank, under-tail, dusky olive. Eye, red-brown. Bill, black. Feet, red-brown to dusky.
Immatures: Duller and greyer breasted and bellied, without white cheeks, until second year.
Habits
Singly or in pairs. Occasionally in small, probably family, groups.
Food
Insects and their larvae.
Voice
The male's long exposive whipcrack instantly answered by female with 'choo-choo', 'weece-weece', 'awee-awee' or 'witch-a-wee', deffering locally; scolding chuckles; clucks and croaks.
Nest
Cup-shaped composed of fine twigs and rootlets and lined with finer materials, in a low bush or among undergrowth.
Eggs (Guide)
2; pale-blue; with spots and irregular marks of black and underlying lilac; oval; 28 x 20 mm. Incubation 17 - 18 days; by female.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in 10 - 11 days. Fed by both parents.
Subspecies
Proposed subspecies magnirostris (from Rockhampton district of central-eastern Queensland) considered inseparable from nominate.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
olivaceus (Latham, 1801) - Coastal central-eastern to south-eastern Australia, from Clarke Range, central-eastern Qld, south to Dandenong and Strzelecki Ranges, Vic and inland to the Great Divide.
lateralis North, 1897 - Olive-brown, with brownish tips to tail, humid north-eastern Qld, from Big Tableland, south to Paluma Range, and inland to the Atherton Tableland - Cardwell Range (smaller).
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