The white-browed scrubwren (''Sericornis frontalis'') is a

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...

bird found on the New England Tablelands and coastal areas of Australia. Placed in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Pardalotidae in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, this has met with opposition and indeed is now known to be wrong; they rather belong to the independent family

Acanthizidae The Acanthizidae—known as Australian warblers—are a family of passerine birds which includes gerygones, the thornbills '' Acanthiza'', and the scrubwrens of ''Sericornis''. The Acanthizidae family consists of small to medium passerine birds, ...

. It is insectivorous and inhabits undergrowth, from which it rarely ventures, though can be found close to urban areas. It is long and predominantly brown in colour with prominent white brows and pale eyes, though the three individual subspecies vary widely. Found in small groups, it is

sedentary Sedentary lifestyle is a lifestyle type, in which one is physically inactive and does little or no physical movement and or exercise. A person living a sedentary lifestyle is often sitting or lying down while engaged in an activity like soci ...

and engages in

cooperative breeding Cooperative breeding is a social system characterized by alloparental care: offspring receive care not only from their parents, but also from additional group members, often called helpers. Cooperative breeding encompasses a wide variety of group ...

. The larger Tasmanian scrubwren was formerly considered a subspecies of this species.

Taxonomy

The white-browed scrubwren was originally described by naturalists

Nicholas Aylward Vigors Nicholas Aylward Vigors (1785 – 26 October 1840) was an Irish zoologist and politician. He popularized the classification of birds on the basis of the quinarian system. Early life Vigors was born at Old Leighlin, County Carlow on 1785 as fir ...

and

Thomas Horsfield Thomas Horsfield (May 12, 1773 – July 24, 1859) was an American physician and naturalist who worked extensively in Indonesia, describing numerous species of plants and animals from the region. He was later a curator of the East India Company ...

in 1827. The specific epithet ''frontalis'' derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

''frons'' "eyebrow". It is now divided into two subspecies: *''S. f. frontalis'', known as the white-browed scrubwren, is found in coastal eastern Australia from the New South Wales-Queensland border round to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. *''S. f. laevigaster'', known as the buff-breasted scrubwren, is found in coastal Queensland from the New South Wales border north to the Atherton Tableland. Cayley p20 Scrubwrens

''S. humilis'', the Tasmanian scrubwren, is found in

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and Bass Strait islands and was formerly considered a subspecies of the white-browed scrubwren. It is larger at 13.5 cm long and lays larger eggs. ''S. maculatus'', known as the spotted scrubwren, occurs in coastal southern Australia, from Kangaroo Island and Adelaide westwards to Shark Bay in Western Australia. It is known to intergrade with the nominate subspecies where their ranges overlap. Genetic analysis in a 2018 study of the family found that this taxon was more divergent from ''S. f. frontalis'' than the Tasmanian or Atherton scrubwrens and hence proposed its reclassification as a species. It was reclassified as a species in 2019.

Description

Mainland birds measure in length and olive brown upperparts (greyish brown in the spotted subspecies and dark brown in Tasmania), with prominent pale irises and a white brow. The throat is white with faint streaks in the subspecies ''frontalis'' and ''laevigaster'' and heavily spotted in ''maculatus''. Ear coverts are grey in ''frontalis'' and black in ''laevigaster'', and brownish in the other two subspecies. The underparts are pale, though buff in ''laevigaster''. The thin bill is black. The females are duller overall and generally have pale gray lores, whereas males have blackish lores. This allows most individuals to be reliably sexed in the field. The call is a loud high-pitched ''ts-cheer'' or ''ch-weip, ch-weip, ch-weip''.Morcombe, Michael (2012) ''Field Guide to Australian Birds''. Pascal Press, Glebe, NSW. Revised edition.

Distribution and habitat

The species favours forested or scrubby areas with plentiful undergrowth, from which it rarely ventures. It is a common bird in bushland areas around Sydney, and the New England Tablelands. It is sedentary.

Behaviour

Scrubwrens are predominantly insectivorous. They can be hard to spot but are very vocal and easy to localise. They occur in small groups of up to six birds and engage in cooperative breeding; namely that group members all help to feed and rear the young.

Reproduction

Breeding season is June or July to November or December, with the nest a domelike structure of dried grasses and leaves, sticks, bark and ferns and feathers for lining. It is placed near or on the ground in dense cover. A clutch of two or three 20 x 15 mm eggs is laid; they vary from brownish-violet to brownish-white in colour with darker spots or blotches. The Tasmanian scrubwren lays larger eggs some 23 x 17 mm in dimensions.

References

External links

White-browed scrubwren factsheet
Australian Museum online
Birds in Backyards - White-browed scrubwren
- with call recording {{Taxonbar, from=Q997723 white-browed scrubwren Endemic birds of Australia white-browed scrubwren