Three thornbills

For newcomers to birding the thornbills can be tantalisingly difficult to identify.

Yesterday afternoon along Mia Mia Track a mixed feeding flock of thornbills, honeyeaters and a Grey Fantail surrounded me as I watched a Painted Button-quail just metres away that kept dodging the camera. Predictably the Brown Thornbills were foraging in the mid layer of shrubs, Buff-rumped Thornbills on the ground, with occasional forays into low shrubs, while the Striated Thornbills chased insects amongst the foliage of a sapling Red Box.

When viewed close-up however the distinguishing features of the species in this group are evident. This blog post from 2021 provides a guide for sorting out our local thornbills.