Tawny Grassbird

Overview

The tawny grassbird is a large songbird belonging to the family Locustellidae, commonly found in grassland and reedbed habitats. It is one of ten recognised subspecies distributed across Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines.

Identification

• Medium-sized bird with a wingspan of 56–69mm and a weight of 13–25g.
• Features an unstreaked rich brown (rufous) cap, rufous rump, and fringes to the flight feathers.
• Possesses wholly unstreaked, pale underparts and a long, drooping graduated tail.
• Distinguished by a loud, grumpy churring call, a ticking sequence ending in an explosive descending trill, and a metallic chuck in flight.

Habitat

Within Australia, the species is mainly found on coastal lowlands in rank grasslands, sedges, reeds, and rushes bordering wetlands. Its broader range extends across parts of Southeast Asia, including the Philippines and Indonesia, as well as Papua New Guinea.

Diet

Tawny grassbirds feed on insects.

Did you know?

While persistent grazing of tall grasses is often a concern for the species, observations in New Guinea showed that population density was actually greater in shorter grazed grass than in neighbouring taller grasses.