Food
Insects, procured on the ground or in shrubs, but also seeds and fruit.
Voice
A high, clear, varied, whistle, 'ch-weip, ch-weip, ch-weip', 'ch-wipip, chi-wipip', 'chp-wiep, chp-wiep', 'cheweep-chip', song. A very high, 'ts-eeer, ts-eeer', the second syllable usualy higher. Scolds with sharp, loud, metallic, rattling 'chk-chk-ckchkchk' or buzzing 'tzzzt-tzzt-tzzt' in alarm.
White-browed Scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis) [XC531679]
by Marc Anderson from Werrikimbe National Park, Australia (call)
White-browed Scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis) [XC340897]
by Marc Anderson from Dunn's Swamp, Wollemi National Park, New South Wales, Australia (call)
Nest
Dome-shaped, with a side-entrance, composed mainly of dry ferns, lined with feathers, in thick undergrowth.
Eggs (Guide)
2 or 3; grey-white to pale buff, finely speckled with darker spotting, forming a well-defined zone at the larger end; long-oval; about 19 x 14 mm. Incubation: probably by female.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 14 - 16 days.
Subspecies
Closely related to, and often treated as conspecific with, Tasmanian Scrubwren (Sericornis humilis). Bass Strait populations (subspecies flindersi) apparently represent intermediates, and King I subspecies tregellasi of Tasmanian Scrubwren (Sericornis humilis) sometimes included in present species. Genetic studies required in order to clarify relationships and help in defining species boundaries. Appears to be closely related also to Atherton Scrubwren (Sericornis keri), which has probably hybridized with subspecies laevigaster and may be a fairly recent divergence. Otherwise, subspecies form three broad groups, "nominate group" (containing also tweedi, harterti, rosinae and flindersi), western "maculatus group" (also with balstoni, ashbyi and mellori) and single-species north-eastern "laevigaster group". Plumage and vocal differences suggest that these could perhaps be treated as three distinct species, but laevigaster intergrades with tweedi over a 100-km zone in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales, and in South Australia mellori probaby intergraded with rosinae around Gulf St Vincent prior to foundation of metropolitan Adelaide (intergrades from this area described as taxon osculans).
Additional proposed subspecies are longirostris (from coastal parts of south-eastern South Australia), synonymized with nominate; in Bass Strait, gularis (Kent Group) and insularis (from nearby Forsyth I), evidently intermediates between nominate and flindersi and merged with latter; and mondraini (Archipelago of the Recherche, in Western Australia), merged with mellori.
The following 10 subspecies are recognised:
frontalis (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827) - Coastal and subcoastal south-eastern Australia from the Hunter River, New South Wales, south-west to south-eastern SA and west to the inland slopes of the Great Divide.
laevigaster Gould, 1847 - Coastal and subcoastal eastern Qld from the Atherton Uplands south to Brisbane and the western slopes of the Great Divide.
tweedi Mathews, 1922 - Coastal and subcoastal north-eastern New South Wales from the New South Wales - Qld border south to the Hunter River and inland to the western slopes of the Great Divide.
flindersi White, SA & Mellor, 1913 - Furneaux, Kent and Hogan Groups, eastern Bass Strait.
harterti Mathews, 1912 - Otway Peninsula and the Strzelecki Ranges - Wilsons Promentory, southern Vic.
rosinae Mathews, 1912 - Mt Lofty Ranges, SA.
ashbyi Mathews, 1912 - Kangaroo Island, SA. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Spotted Scrubwren (Sericornis maculatus).
mellori Mathews, 1912 - Coastal Gulf of St Vincent and southern Yorke and southern Eyre Peninsulas in SA, and south-eastern coastal WA west to Hopetoun - Bremer Bay and extending north to the inner Wheatbelt. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Spotted Scrubwren (Sericornis maculatus).
maculatus Gould, 1847 - South-western WA from Bremer Bay - Hopetoun north-west to Jurien Bay - Dongara. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Spotted Scrubwren (Sericornis maculatus). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Spotted Scrubwren (Sericornis maculatus).
balstoni Olgilvie-Grant, 1909 - Coastal western WA between Jurien Bay - Dongara and Shark Bay, including Houtman Abrolhos and islands in Shark Bay. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Spotted Scrubwren (Sericornis maculatus).
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