A friend tagged me on Facebook in a nature photo a day challenge, so I thought I'd share those photos here.
Today's pic is of a grey-headed robin sunbathing in the garden. Endemic to north-east Queensland, grey-headed robins are common and conspicuous residents of upland rainforests.
Despite the common name, they are not related to European robins, but they do have grey heads, so well done whoever settled on that epithet*.
They might hop around the garden looking all cuddly and winsome, but grey-headed robins are keen enforcers of the bird bath pecking order and ferocious predators of small insects. Given the chance, they will also clean up dropped crumbs, because who knows where the next meal is coming from? It's a jungle out there.
Although they are usually quiet birds, even when shouldering others out of the bird bath, they have a distinctive call. Their peep-peep-peep-peep-peeps are as much a part of the dawn and dusk choruses as the yowls of spotted catbirds and the seamless duets of eastern whipbirds. You can hear the call in this lovely video from Crater Lakes Cottages (near Lake Eacham).
Another Nature Photo Challenge pic tomorrow.
* Don't get me started on common names.
