IUCN Least Concern (LC)
Yellow Thornbill
Acanthiza nana
All thornbills are small birds, and the Yellow Thornbill is one of the smallest — it was once known as the ‘Little Thornbill’. They occur throughout open forests, woodlands and shrublands in eastern and south-eastern Australia, usually where the dominant plants are not eucalypts. They almost always occur in trees, gleaning small insects and other invertebrates among the leaves, twigs and small branches.
The Yellow Thornbill is a small to medium-sized thornbill and is the most yellow of the thornbill group. It is greenish-olive on the back, with white streaking on the cheeks and ears, and has pale to bright yellow underparts. There is a reddish brown tone on the chin and throat. The young birds are similar but duller.
Harsh, scratchy two-note calls: ‘tzid-id’ or ‘tzid-id, tis-tis’.
Bird call recorded by: Richard Boon, XC772335 via xeno-canto.org, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
The Yellow Thornbill is found across the eastern states of Australia, from southern Queensland through most of New South Wales, Victoria, and into South Australia. It inhabits open forests, woodlands, and shrublands dominated by Casuarinas, Acacias, or paperbarks rather than eucalypts, and is often seen in parks and established gardens.
Distribution map
They build their domed nests in the leafy twigs or foliage of trees or shrubs, where they are often parasitised by bronze-cuckoos.
The Yellow Thornbill feeds mainly on insects, but may sometimes eat seeds. They feed almost exclusively in the foliage of trees, most often Acacias, paperbarks, casuarinas and native pines.
Breeding pairs of Yellow Thornbills may sometimes have helpers to assist them with feeding the young. Females build a rounded domed nest, with a narrow, hooded entrance near the top, out of grasses, bark and other materials, lining it with feathers, fur or soft plant down. The nest is usually in twigs of upper tree branches. The female incubates the eggs alone, but both parents (and possibly helpers) feed the young.
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IUCN status reflects the conservation status of this species globally.
