Yellow throated scrubwren
 
 

Yellow throated scrubwren


A commonly seen bird in the forest

The Yellow-throated Scrubwren is a small, ground-dwelling bird with a distinctive black face mask and forehead, which is bordered by a white and yellow eyebrow above and a bright yellow throat below. The relatively long legs are cream to pinkish-grey and the bill is black. Young birds are duller than adults in colour.

There they inhabit the undergrowth in rainforests and moist eucalypt forests, especially in the damp, densely vegetated gullies, where they forage for insects and other invertebrates from the leaf litter that has accumulated on the ground. Sometimes they follow other species, such as Australian Logrunners, pecking at invertebrates exposed by the other birds’ scratching.

The Yellow-throated Scrubwren builds a long, bulky domed nest with a hooded side entrance, suspended in tangled vines or from a branch. It is made from roots, vine tendrils, leaf skeletons, moss and twigs, and is lined with feathers.