Bum steer

Just as you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can’t always identify a bird by its rear view, as these two pictures of different birds taken about 20 metres apart show. They are actually two of the more spectacular birds seen at Coonans Reserve last Saturday where the Strath Creek Landcare Group and Murrindindi Shire Council held a talk and walk as an introduction to the Aussie Backyard Bird Count.

The birds in question are the Golden Whistler and Crested Shrike-tit, and as you can see from the photos below, although they both have yellow, black and white colouring and are similar in size, they are distinctly different in patterning, bill-shape and body stance. They also differ in habits and call – click on the audio bars below to hear local examples of the calls.