Inland Thornbill

Identification

The inland thornbill is a small passerine measuring approximately 11.5 cm in length. It is very similar in appearance to the brown thornbill, but can be distinguished by white speckling on the forehead (rather than rufous), a greyer overall plumage, and a notably larger, rounder tail with a broad black band tipped with white across the tail feathers. The species is also known as the broad-tail thornbill, a reference to this distinctive feature. Inland thornbills are proficient mimics and produce a high-pitched tsee-tsee call, alongside vocalizations similar to those of the brown thornbill. They have been documented imitating calls of diverse species including the pied butcherbird, rufous whistler, bush stone-curlew, willie wagtail, grey fantail, and various cuckoos.