Adults: Above, generally rich olive-brown to brownish-grey. Rump, rufous-brown. Wings, darker grey-brown, with paler edges. Tail, dark grey-brown with black subterminal band and grey-buff to white tips on inner webs of all but the central pair of feathers. Face, flecked olive- to pale-grey, scalloped white on forehead. Below, cream- to pure-white grading to olive-brown, or grey on flanks and undertail. Throat, breast clearly to heavily streaked grey-black. Eye, red. Bill, black. Feet, dusky brown.
Voice
Like Brown Thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla), but harsher. Call: High-pitched 'see-see' in contact. Song: Spirited territorial song. Also mimics others.
Inland Thornbill (Acanthiza apicalis) [XC405495]
by Marc Anderson from Collie Burn, Shire of Collie, Western Australia, Australia (song)
Inland Thornbill (Acanthiza apicalis) [XC409229]
by Marc Anderson from Donnelly River, Shire of Nannup, Western Australia, Australia (call)
Nest
Domed, with side-entrance near top, composed of bark fragments and dry grass, bound with cobweb and lined with soft grass and feathers. Usually in a shrub near the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
3; white, freckled and blotched with red-brown; oblong-oval; about 16 x 12 mm.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 16 - 18 days. Fed by both parents.
Subspecies
Acanthiza pusilla (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) has been split into Brown Thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla) and Inland Thornbill (Acanthiza apicalis) following Christidis and Boles (1994).
Probably forms a superspecies with Brown Thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla), with which has often been treated as conspecific. Some hybridization between the two likely in south-eastern South Australia, where individuals with intermediate plumage occur.
Subspecies diemenensis of Brown Thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla) seems to be genetically more like present species.
Proposed subspecies tanami (from arid interior in northern Western Australia, Tanami district and Dalmore Downs, in Northern Territory, east to Duchess, in Queensland) is considered synonymous with whitlocki; described subspecies leeuwinensis (humid coast of south-western Australia) appears to refer to an intergrade population between nominate and whitlocki.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
whitlocki North, 1909 - Western and central Australia.
apicalis Gould, 1847 - Southern coastal and subcoastal Australia.
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