The Eastern species

Once there was the Crested Shriketit and it had Northern, Western and Eastern subspecies in the family, but taxonomy is not an exact science and now our local variety has been officially renamed the Eastern Shriketit (Falculuncus frontatus). The differences were enough to allow each subspecies to be elevated to their own species.

Quite a spectacular bird, the Eastern Shriketit with its black, gold and white markings has a big, destructive beak with which it tears at the bark on trees looking for insects. For this reason, it likes River Red Gum country more than, say Messmate Stringybark because the latter’s bark is very difficult to dislodge.

They are not common, but when they turn up they are quite noticeable and stick around for a while. They’ve been photographed at Flowerdale and Yea Wetlands on many occasions, and even adorn the front cover of our publication Birds of Strath Creek. I recently spent some leisurely time with a pair that were calling and moving slowly through a woodland landscape – it was beautiful! Hear the call below:

They need a decent bit of flourishing forest (who doesn’t?) and the Western Australian version is said to be under threat because the woodlands it likes keep suffering bushfire. In this time of peril in our State, conserving a beautiful bird like this is just one more small reason to do all possible to mitigate the bushfire risk.