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So cute! Juvenile Red-browed Finches
I was wandering around a new area of the bush, to the west of Sydney near the Blue Mountains, when I saw a couple of little birds that I couldn’t at first identify:
From the red in their tails, I thought they might be Red-browed Finches, but they didn’t have the characteristic red stripes above their eyes.
Then I saw an adult with them:
They were juveniles, yet to develop the red brows.
Common name: Red-browed Finch
Scientific name: Neochmia temporalis
Approximate length: 12 cm
Date spotted: 30 March 2024 (summer)
Location: Bulcamatta Falls Track, The Devils Wilderness, NSW, Australia: 33°33’19.4″S 150°36’04.8″E
Brown Thornbill in the rain
This is my first recording of a Brown Thornbill. They’re tiny little birds (about 10 cm long from tip of beak to end of tail) that spend their time in the middle-to-low area of a forest. This one was dodging raindrops in search of insects:
Brown Thornbills have a soft colouring of light brown to fawn, with darker edges to the tail and wings. The chin, throat and breast have light grey speckles:
The little bird puffed itself up to ward off the cold and wet, much as I was doing by huddling in my cosy warm jacket.
Common name: Brown Thornbill
Scientific name: Acanthiza pusilla
Length: 9.5-10.5 cm
Date spotted: Sunday 31 December 2023 (summer)
Location: Blue Mountains National Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°33’58.9″S 150°20’40.8″E
Scarlet Robin in Blue Mountains
I’m spending the weekend in the Blue Mountains, about two hours’ drive west of Sydney. A little Scarlet Robin was fascinated by the shiny surfaces of a row of cars. It kept swooping down to examine the mirrors and paintwork.
This is a male bird, with its scarlet patch on the chest and striking black and white markings on the rest of the body. The female was flitting around too, but didn’t stay in any one place long enough for a picture. She was light brown with a pale orange chest.
This is my first sighting of a Scarlet Robin, though I often see the Eastern Yellow Robin nearer home. Australian robins are not related to European or American robins. When Europeans came to Australia, they named these little birds “robins” because they reminded them of the birds they saw back home. The same applies to Australian magpies, and probably other birds too.
Common name: Scarlet Robin
Scientific name: Petroica boodang
Approximate length: 12 cm
Date spotted: 21 November 2021 (spring)
Location: Rydal Showground, NSW, Australia: 33°28’58.7″S 150°02’11.0″E
Sydney Birder 