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) [XC383152]
by Marc Anderson from Mount Gibson Sanctuary, Western Australia, Australia (call)
Slaty-backed Thornbill (Acanthiza robustirostris) [XC165016]
by Stewart Ford from Ularring, Western Australia, Australia (song)
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