Striated thornbill
The striated thornbill is a species of bird in the family Acanthizidae. It is endemic to Australia, where its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.
Taxonomy
John Gould described the striated thornbill in 1838, giving it the common name of striated acanthiza. Alternative common names include striped-crowned thornbill or tit-warbler, striated tit-warbler or tit, and green thornbill.The striated thornbill still bears its original name.
A 2017 genetic study using both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA found that the ancestor of the striated thornbill diverged from that of the yellow thornbill around 6 million years ago.
Four subspecies are recognised.A. lineata alberti is found in southeast Queensland and is paler and more yellowish overall than the nominate subspecies. It has a bright orange-brown cap with prominent white streaks, and a yellow-olive back. There is a broad zone of intermediate birds stretching from Tenterfield south to Port Macquarie on the coast and Tamworth inland.A. lineata lineata is found across New South Wales and Victoria, with a zone between the Grampians and Warrnambool, and the South Australian border where intermediate forms between this and clelandii are found. A. lineata clelandii is smaller and paler than the nominate subspecies, though has a more greyish back. It is found in southeastern South Australia to Adelaide.A. lineata whitei is smaller and darker than the nominate subspecies, with an overall greyish cast. It is found on Kangaroo Island.
Description
The adult striated thornbill is long and weighs around. It has a russet- or orange-brown crown with cream streaks, dull yellow-olive upperparts, olive-grey flanks, and cream underparts heavily streaked with black.The brown thornbill is similar but lacks the white-streaked orange-brown cap and lives in shrubs.