The white-fronted chat (Epthianura albifrons ) is a species of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to southern Australia. The male has a white face bordered by a black breast band. It is insectivorous.
An insectivore is a carnivorous plant or animal that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of e...
In zoology, a nectarivore is an animal that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of the sugar-...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withAdult white-fronted chats are 11–13 cm (4.3–5.1 in) in length and weigh 11–17 g (0.4–0.6 oz). The male has a white face and breast bordered by a black band across the breast and nape to the hind crown. The upperparts are silver-grey, wings and upper tail coverts are dark brown, and the abdomen is white. The eyes of the male are pinkish-white, whereas the eyes of the female are brown. The female has grey-brown upperparts and white or pale grey underparts with a fainter blackish-brown breast band.
The contact call, a metallic tang sound given in flight at irregular intervals, has been likened to the twanging of a rubber band.
The white-fronted chat is endemic to Australia, being found across southern Australia (including Tasmania) from Shark Bay in Western Australia around to the Darling Downs in Queensland. Its preferred habitat is open country with low vegetation, including samphire (Tecticornia ), tea-tree (Melaleuca ) and heath, in saltmarshes and coastal dunes, in swamp or mangrove margins and around inland salt lakes. It is generally sedentary in the wetter southern part of its range, though it may be nomadic in more arid areas.
The white-fronted chat is usually conspicuous, perching prominently on bushes, tussocks or fences. However, it is quite secretive in approaching the nest, engaging in distraction displays. They are a gregarious species, often nesting in small colonies.
The white-fronted chat usually forages singly or in small parties, seeking insects in low bushes or on the ground. Their diet consists of a wide variety of insects, including beetles, ants, bees, grasshoppers, moths and caterpillars, as well as spiders, acacia seeds, and nectar.
In the breeding season from June to January, the female builds a cup-shaped nest of grasses and twigs, lined with fine grass, feathers, wool and hair, which is well concealed in tussock or a low shrub. A clutch of 2 to 4 eggs is incubated by both parents for 13–14 days. The eggs measure 17 mm × 14 mm (0.67 in × 0.55 in) and are white, spotted with reddish-brown at the large end. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge after 10–15 days. The nests are occasionally parasitised by Horsfield's bronze-cuckoo (Chrysococcyx basalis ).
The white-fronted chat has been listed as vulnerable in New South Wales, with a significant decline of 65% recorded for the period 1981–2005. It is considered threatened in the Adelaide-Mount Lofty region of South Australia, where it has become much rarer. However, it is listed globally as least concern on the IUCN Red List.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...