Eastern Spinebill (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris) [XC490800]
by Ramit Singal from Bulli Tops, New South Wales, Australia (song)
Eastern Spinebill (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris) [XC91640]
by nick talbot from Bellawongarah, NSW, Australia (call)
Nest
Cup-shaped, composed of bark, grass and moss, lined with fine grass and feathers, suspended from athin horizontal branch in a thick bush, usually about 8 meters above the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
2 or 3; buff or buff-pink with chestnut or red-brown spots towards the larger end; oval; about 17 x 13 mm. Incubation: about 14 days; mainly by female.
Young
Fledge in 13 - 15 days.
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Western Spinebill (Acanthorhynchus superciliosus).
Proposed subspecies trochiloides (from Bunya Mts, in south-eastern Queensland) and loftyi (Mt Lofty, in southern Australia) considered synonyms of nominate, and regius (King I, in Bass Strait) synonymized with dubius.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
tenuirostris (Latham, 1801) - South-eastern Qld to south-east of SA.
cairnsensis Mathews, 1912 - North-eastern Qld.
dubius Gould, 1837 - Tasmania and islands in Bass Strait.
halmaturinus Campbell, AG, 1906 - Mt Lofty ranges and southern Flinders Ranges, urban Adelaide and Kangaroo Island, SA.
Similar Species
Tawny-crowned Honeyeater (Gliciphila melanops) which is larger, has a cinnamon crown, a white throat, and has a shorter, straighter bill and Crescent Honeyeater (Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus) which has a yellow wing bar and a grey throat.
References
See References.
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