Crested Shrike-tit

 In East Gippsland we are always excited to find a Crested Shrike-tit as they are somewhat uncommon in this region, but across the whole range of the Eastern Shrike-tit sub-species (Falcunculus frontatus, they vary from rare to common in optimum habitat. There are two other sub-species, Western and Northern.

We discovered they can be common on a recent BirdLife East Gippsland Autumn Camp based in Chiltern in late March 2026, when camp participants were delighted to encounter them in a number of locations and habitats.

The following survey records from Birdata (1) reveal the difference in abundance between the two areas:

Birdata BirdLife East Gippsland East Gippsland regional group area, total surveys 51,000, Crested Shrike-tit records 766.

Birdata Ovens Murray regional group area, which covers the autumn camp locations, total surveys 48,553 (a similar survey effort to East Gippsland), Crested Shrike-tit records 2,885.

The ratio is 766/2,885 or 1 to 3.77 - therefore in suitable/optimum habitat, especially Mt Pilot National Park box-ironbark woodland, we are nearly 4 times as likely to come across a Crested Shrike-tit in the Ovens Murray region than in East Gippsland. It is always nice when the data confirms the “in-the-field” experience.

The following photos are of two males from two locations in the Chiltern area - note the black throat, the females have an olive-green throat. The powerful black bill is used to glean invertebrate food from bark and rotting wood so they are often detected by the sound of shredding bark.

NOTE: You can left click on any photo to open a slide show of the photos free of text or a right click enables one photo at a time to be opened in a New Tab where an enlarged version can be viewed.

The bird in the following photo shows a hint of the crest which is not often seen fully raised.

As the photos reveal, Crested Shrike-tits are strikingly beautiful birds, which goes someway to explaining why finding them is always special, irrespective of their local abundance.

NOTE 1: Birdata is BirdLife Australia’s national database for bird survey records. Here is a link to Birdata – you will need to create an account to access the database if you do not already have one. A smart phone version for recording surveys in the field is available at the App Store .

https://birdata.birdlife.org.au/explore#map=-22.5083100_136.0786120_4

Restless Flycatcher

 All Flycatcher species are well known for their aerial pursuit of insect and spider prey. This was certainly my experience, and until a recent encounter with a Restless Flycatcher (Myiagra inquieta), I did not realise that they also forage on the ground.

The bird in question was actively working the mid story to the canopy of the bushland until it moved to lower shrubs beside the track I was on, and then dropped to the ground where it walked about examining a number of ant nests. It then picked up an object from beside a nest which it held for a few seconds before flying with the object up into a small shrubby tree beside the track. I lost sight of the bird shortly after, so I can’t say what it did with this object.

After processing the photos later, I could not determine if the object was food or not – see photos below. I am inclined to think it was not, however I am intrigued to think Restless Flycatchers may include in their diet food items collected and discarded by ants.

HANZAB, the encyclopaedic Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds, now available online, provides information on Restless Flycatcher foraging, including this snippet:

Doubtfully, claimed they steal food from ants, hovering above ants carrying food back to their nests, then pounce to take food from them (Bright 1935).

While solid evidence is required, it seems possible to me that some birds, when food resources are scarce, may learn to steal insect food items from ants. Flycatchers certainly have the physical ability to do this easily.

HANZAB provides data for Restless Flycatcher foraging, which in general terms indicates they forage on the ground at least 25% of the time. The rest of the time foraging is on the wing, using both hovering and sallying.

NOTE: You can left click on any photo to open a slide show of the photos free of text or a right click enables one photo at a time to be opened in a New Tab where an enlarged version can be viewed.

This link to an earlier Avithera post shows photos and information for a number of the Myiagra flycatchers.

https://avithera.blogspot.com/2015/04/flycatchers.html