Varied Sittella

Identification

There are at least five sub-species or races of the Varied Sittella. It is one of the few birds in most field guides that get a whole page devoted to its identification. Our West Gippsland bird is of the nominate orange-winged race. It has an upturned bill, orange feet, brown-grey back, dark head, pale breast and belly, barring under the tail, a pale-yellow eye-ring that stands out and some orange flight feathers that are most evident when the bird flies.

 

Habitat

Sittellas are very arboreal, preferring eucalypt woodlands and forests that contain rough-barked trees – Ironbarks, Stringybarks, etc. They are also often found on dead trees that have plenty of small crevices and hollows. Sittella colonies can be relatively nomadic within a large home range.

 

Behaviour

The Varied Sittella uses its bill to probe for insects under the bark, mostly working down the tree, (opposite to the treecreeper), often hanging upside down. They usually do this in small family parties of half a dozen birds or more, (again, unlike the treecreeper which forages alone, generally).

 

When feeding, the birds keep in contact with a soft, high-pitched twittering.

 

Varied Sittellas build a beautifully camouflaged cone-shaped cup nest in the fork of a tree and the family group cooperatively help rear the young. Sittellas roost communally overnight.

 

Distribution

The sittella is an Australian endemic and in its various forms is very widespread in suitable habitat through the continent. Different references seem to give the bird a varying status from secure to vulnerable to threatened, depending on its location. Loss of eucalypt habitat is probably this bird’s greatest threat.

 

In this small corner of the planet, Varied Sittellas have been seen in Thornell’s Reserve at Longwarry North, Pryor Rd in Drouin, Bass Coast woodlands, etc.