Varied Sittella

Overview

The varied sittella (Daphoenositta chrysoptera) is a small songbird native to Australia, also known as the Australian nuthatch, orange-winged sittella, and barkpecker. Classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, the species exhibits significant variation in appearance across its broad range, prompting the specific name 'varied'.

Identification

• Small bird measuring about 10–11 cm in length.
• Crown and head may be white, grey, or black; body is whitish or grey, often streaked with black and grey.
• Black wings feature a broad bar in white or cinnamon, with dark orange irises and orange-yellow legs and feet.
• Orange beak with a black tip that can extend to the base.
• Song comprises a thin, high-pitched chwit, developing into a louder, metallic tchweit-tchweit-tchweit in constant call-and-response sequences.

Habitat

Native to Australia, the varied sittella inhabits a broad range where its appearance changes depending on location. Five subspecies are recognised across regions including northwest to north-central, northeast, east, southeast, and southwest, west-central, central, and south Australia.

Diet

The diet consists of spiders and insects, which are usually prised from beneath the bark. Flocks forage in trees of all heights, often descending erratically down the trunks in a nuthatch-like fashion.

Did you know?

The nest is a cone-shaped structure made of bark, fibres, and spider-webs, placed 5 to 25 m above ground in the fork of a branch or on an exposed limb.