Sandstone Shrike-thrush

Description:

Sandstone Shrike-thrushes are large shrike-thrushes. The colours of their plumage are an excellent adaptation to the habitat in which they live. Lores and throat are buff-coloured, the rest of the front is cinnamon, with fine streaking and a grey wash on the breast. The head is grey, while the back, from mantle to rump, is greyish-brown. The flight feathers are dark-grey, with brown edge lining. The tail is dark grey-brown. The irises are brown. The long, straight bill and the legs and feet are dark-grey. The underparts of juvenile birds are paler and may show more streaking than adults.

Habitat:

Sandstone cliffs

Notes:

The Sandstone Shrike-thrush inhabits sandstone regions and lives in sandstone cliffs and gorges, among boulders on ridges and in crevices. Forages alone or in pairs among the rocks for small lizards, grasshoppers and spiders. Frequently forages on foot then flies to the next feeding site. Dives under cover among rocks when disturbed; sings from high points on cliff tops and pinnacles and nests on sheltered rock ledges. The Sandstone Shrike-thrush is sedentary; established pairs hold the same large territory all year. Breeding takes place from November to January. The nest is a bulky bowl of interwoven, thin roots, mostly spinifex but including bark; lined with finer rootlets and grasses. Usually placed in a crack or hole in sandstone cliff, or underneath overhanging rocks with a clear view outward. The shape is sometimes distorted to an oval or rough triangle to fit the shape of the cavity in the sandstone selected to hold the nest. Two or three eggs are laid; pearly white with well-defined brown-black, brown and slate-grey spots, mostly large and sparingly distributed, mostly at the large end; oval, about 30 by 21 millimetres. Incubation takes about 16 days.