ID CHALLENGE 12 June 2020: P Plater by Sonja Ross
Today’s bird was photographed in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia, and I’m suggesting it’s a P challenge because of the pose, but since we’re such a clever group, it may be an L for some! It’s a medium sized bird of drier woodlands mostly.
Solution:
You are all stars! This is a White-browed Babbler Pomatostomus superciliosus as you correctly identified.
We have four Babblers, which by the way, aren’t related to Babblers in other countries. The one most likely to be confused with White-browed is the Chestnut-crowned, but it has a dark edging to the white of the front.
They live in family groups and can be quite noisy as they tend to communicate with each other much of the time.
The young one in the second photo was in the car park at Monkey Mia in W.A. where I was watching a couple of Western Grasswrens early in the morning.
Comments:
Janine Duffy: I always look for the white spots on the wing coverts. Chestnut-crowned have them, White-browed don’t.
Karina Sorrell: Me too!
Women Birders Australia 