ID Challenge, October 1, 2020 Advanced by Sonja Ross
Apologies for the photo quality but it was quite dim in Gippsland when I photographed these two.
Solution:
Good for those who had a go, and well done as they are an adult and juvenile Pilotbird Pycnoptilus floccosus.
They are only found in eastern Victoria, the ACT and fairly coastal NSW about midway up. Named as it was originally thought that they were totally associated with Superb Lyrebirds.
They are brown with a rufous breast mottled brown and live in mostly wet forests and coastal heath, and spend their lives mostly on the forest floor. Apparently they fan their tails, and move it up and down.
I was lucky enough to come across these two when I was walking from the lower carpark at Tarra-Bulga National Park in Gippsland Victoria to the visitor centre there, but the dim light made it difficult to photograph the active birds.
See more pics and hear the call here: https://ebird.org/species/pilotb1
Someone mentioned Bristlebirds as a possibility early in sharing their thoughts about possibilities, but dismissed that because of location. In fact, Eastern Bristlebirds do occur in far eastern Gippsland, but their tail is longer and they have a pale throat – and I would have said near Mallacoota as a hint.
Compare with bristlebird: https://ebird.org/species/easbri1/
Interestingly, there was a quite dramatic rescue of several birds from Howe Flat near Mallacoota when the fires were burning in that area and south-eastern NSW last summer, so I’m attaching an account of that in case anyone is interested. It was written by Rohan Clarke from Monash University, and one of the authors of the Australian Bird Guide.
Read more: https://lens.monash.edu/@science/2020/02/24/1379720/saving-the-eastern-bristlebird
Women Birders Australia 