Bird Watching Blog

Rockwarbler

Origma solitaria

SUBFAMILY

Acanthizinae

TAXONOMY

Sylvia solitaria Lewin, 1808, Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

English: Origma, rock robin, cave-bird; French: Origma des rochers; German: Steinhuscher; Spanish: Origma Piedra.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

5.5 in (14 cm); c. 0.4 oz (12 g). Brown back with reddish brown underparts.

DISTRIBUTION

Very restricted range in sandstone and limestone country around Sydney, New South Wales.

HABITAT

Scrubby forest and heathland, especially near bare rock faces and cliffs.

BEHAVIOR

Solitary, but easily seen. Song is described as repeated "good-bye," also penetrating, rasping and twittering calls. Sedentary.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Typically feeds on rock surfaces or bare ground, including parking areas, etc. Gleans insects, and other arthropods, and occasionally seeds. Sometimes takes insects from bark or captures them in flight.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Breeds August to December. Nest is placed in a cave, or cleft in the rock, but also in man-made structures such as mineshafts. It is made of rootlets, bark, grass and moss and is spherical with a side entrance. Three or four white eggs.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not threatened.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

The only bird endemic to the state of New South Wales. ♦