Southern Whiteface

Identification

The southern whiteface is a small, stocky thornbill-like passerine approximately 11.5 cm in length. Its most distinctive feature is a white band across the forehead with a darker streak along the top edge—characteristic facial markings of the genus Aphelocephala. The bird has a brown back, white belly, dark brown wings, and a black tail with a narrow white tip. A grey wash sometimes appears on the belly, with grey or rufous tinges to the flanks depending on the subspecies. Adults possess a cream-coloured eye, grey legs, and a stubby dark grey bill of finch-like appearance. Sexes are indistinguishable in adults, but juveniles lack the black rear facial band. The southern whiteface can be told apart from its congeners—the banded whiteface and chestnut-breasted whiteface—by its duller overall appearance and absence of a breast band.

Its rapid, noisy call is a distinctive twittering tchip-tchip-chiptchipt-chipt-chip or tzip-tzip-tziptzip, with a harsher kzzurrk-kzzurrk alarm call.