Golden Whistler Shelley Rose

Golden Whistler

Did You Know?

It usually feeds alone
Its average weight is 25 grams
It belongs to the Family Pachycephalidae, meaning ‘thick-head’, named after the group’s robust necks and heads
It is also found in Indonesia, Fiji, New Guinea and the Solomons

The adult male has a bright-yellow underbody, olive-green back and wings, and a black head with a bright-yellow collar. Its throat is white, with a broad black band which separates it from the yellow breast. Its beak and legs are black. The adult female has grey upperparts with a pale olive tinge, and is pale grey below with a pale yellowish tinge. Its beak is dark brown and its legs are grey-brown. Both sexes have a red-brown eye. Juvenile birds are rufous above and below, and as they mature, gradually resemble a female, though they retain some rufous feathers in their wings.

Size

16 – 19 cm

Behaviour

Call

Strong, musical and varied, it includes a "we-we-we-tu-whit", with the last note stronger and whip-like, and a rising "seep".

Diet

Insects and their larvae, as well as spiders and other small arthropods. It also very occasionally eats berries. It hops from branch to branch as it searches for prey on leaves and bark; but seldom forages among leaf litter.

Movement

It usually remains in the same area throughout the year, though some birds descend from higher altitudes to spend autumn and winter in lowland areas, and return to the hills in spring.

Breeding

The female usually builds the nest, though sometimes she is assisted by the male. The nest is a shallow bowl made of twigs, grass and bark, bound together with spider web and lined with fine grass. The female usually lays two or three eggs which are incubated by both parents for up to 17 days. The young birds remain in the nest for up to 13 days, and both parents feed and brood the young. They breed one brood a year.

Field Guide

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What to Observe

Courting/Mating
Calling
Feeding
Bird on chicks
Bird on eggs
Bird on nest
Bird feeding young

When and Where

When To Look

From August to February for breeding behaviour. During winter for migratory birds that have moved to lowlands.

Where To Look

In a wide variety of wooded habitats, from rainforest to mallee, where it often occurs in tall or dense understorey
It occasionally visits suburban parks
It is often heard rather than seen. Nests are often located up to 6 metres above the ground in a fork of a shrub or tree
Eastern and southern Australia, from north Queensland, south through eastern Queensland and NSW to Tasmania, and west through southern SA to south-western Western Australia; It does not occur in the Northern Territory

Similar Species

Mangrove Golden Whistler (Pachycephala melanura) the male has brighter underparts than the Golden Whistler, has a broader collar, and a slightly shorter tail. The female has yellowish underparts. It also has a longer beak and is only found in the mangroves of coastal northern Australia.

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