Shy heathwren

The shy heathwren is a species of small bird in the family Acanthizidae, endemic to Australia. They inhabit mostly mallee woodland that has relatively dense shrub and heath understorey.

Loading map...

Distribution

Region

Southern Australia

Typical Environment

Occurs patchily through mallee and heathlands of southern mainland Australia, especially in South Australia, Victoria, and western New South Wales. Prefers dense, shrubby understorey on sandy or loamy soils with scattered eucalypts. Often associated with mature mallee stands, broombush, and spinifex clumps that provide cover. Avoids heavily cleared lands and very open sites, persisting best in large, contiguous tracts and well-managed reserves.

Altitude Range

Sea level to 600 m

Climate Zone

Arid

Characteristics

Size13–16 cm

Wing Span18–22 cm

Male Weight0.018 kg

Female Weight0.017 kg

Life Expectancy5 years

Ease of Keeping

Beginner friendly: 1/5

Useful to know

The shy heathwren is a small, ground-favoring songbird of dense mallee-heath, where it skulks through low shrubs and leaf litter. It often cocks and fans its long tail, flashing white tips as it darts between cover. Pairs hold territories year-round and build well-concealed, domed nests low to the ground. While the species is not considered globally threatened, it is sensitive to habitat clearing, frequent fire, and predation by cats and foxes.

Gallery

Behaviour

Temperament

shy and skulking

Flight Pattern

short rapid wingbeats

Social Behavior

Typically encountered as pairs or small family groups holding year-round territories. Nests are domed and well concealed in dense shrubs or near ground level. Breeding generally occurs in late winter to spring, with both parents caring for the young.

Migratory Pattern

Resident

Song Description

A soft, musical series of trills and sweet whistles delivered from within cover or a low perch. Also gives thin, scolding contact calls while moving through dense shrubbery.

Unlock detailed bird insights with Pro access today.

Identification

Leg Colorpinkish-brown

Eye Colordark brown

Plumage

Warm brown upperparts with fine darker streaking, paler buff underparts with subtle streaks on the breast, and a long tail often held cocked and fanned. Throat is whitish to pale buff with a faint, pale eyebrow and darker facial line. Tail shows contrasting dark subterminal band and white tips when spread.

Feeding Habits

Diet

Primarily takes insects and other small arthropods such as beetles, caterpillars, ants, and spiders. Forages by gleaning from leaf litter, probing among twigs, and picking prey from low foliage. May occasionally take small seeds or plant matter, especially in drier periods.

Preferred Environment

Feeds on or near the ground within dense heath and mallee understorey, especially where leaf litter accumulates. Often uses fallen branches, spinifex, and shrub bases as foraging cover.

Population

Total Known Populationunknown

Siamese fireback

The Siamese fireback, also known as Diard's fireback, is a fairly large, approximately 80 cm (31 in) long, pheasant. The male has a grey plumage with an extensive facial caruncle, crimson legs and feet, ornamental black crest feathers, reddish brown iris and long curved blackish tail. The female is a brown bird with blackish wings and tail feathers.

Siamese pied myna

The Siamese pied myna is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. Its plumage is black and white, with a black collar. It is found in Myanmar and China to Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. It previously was considered a subspecies of the pied myna, which has now been split into three species. It can be distinguished from the Indian pied myna and Javan pied myna by more extensive white streaking on its forehead from both and a wider extent of bare red-orange facial skin around the eye compared to G. contra, but much less compared to G. jalla.

Siau scops owl

The Siau scops owl is a critically endangered owl species. They live on Siau Island, north of Sulawesi, Indonesia and are (were) forest dwellers. The species is only known from a single holotype from 1866 although there have been more recent potential sightings, including one in 2017. Nonetheless, their already small, relatively barren habitat is being lost to excessive logging of the little forest present on the island and there are assumed to be very few individuals left, if any. The taxonomic arrangement for this owl has not been fully worked out. While recognized as a distinct species by the IOC, others consider it as a subspecies of either the Sulawesi scops owl or Moluccan scops owl, and it has recently been analyzed and found to be closest in morphology to Sangihe scops owl.

Siberian accentor

The Siberian accentor is a small passerine bird that breeds in northern Russia from the Ural Mountains eastwards across Siberia. It is migratory, wintering in Korea and eastern China, with rare occurrences in western Europe and northwestern North America. Its typical breeding habitat is subarctic deciduous forests and open coniferous woodland, often close to water, although it also occurs in mountains and spruce taiga. It inhabits bushes and shrubs in winter, frequently near streams, but may also be found in dry grassland and woods.

Siberian blue robin

The Siberian blue robin is a small passerine bird that was formerly classified as a member of the thrush family, Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to belong to the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. It and similar small European species are often called chats. Recent research suggests that this species and some other East Asian members of Luscinia should be classified in a new genus, together with the Japanese and Ryūkyū robins. The genus name Larvivora comes from the Neo-Latin larva meaning caterpillar and -vorus meaning eating, and cyane is Latin for "dark-blue".

Siberian crane

The Siberian crane, also known as the Siberian white crane or the snow crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the cranes. They are distinctive among the cranes: adults are nearly all snowy white, except for their black primary feathers that are visible in flight, and with two breeding populations in the Arctic tundra of western and eastern Russia. The eastern populations migrate during winter to China, while the western population winters in Iran and (formerly) in Bharatpur, India.