Order) Passeriformes
Family) Acanthizidae
Species) Native Bird
Conservation Status) Not Threatened
Length) 11 cm
Weight) 5.5 – 6.5 g
Other Names) rainbird, Riroriro, teetotum, gray warbler, New Zealand gerygone, grey gerygone
Threats) Not many threats – Rats mainly and the Shining Cuckoo
Identification
The Grey Warbler is a tiny olive-grey song bird often heard before seen, locations found on Waiheke are dense woody vegetation locations. The Warbler can be difficult to spot.
The grey warbler is a tiny, slim grey songbird that usually stays among canopy foliage. It is olive-grey above, with a grey face and off-white underparts. The tail is darker grey, getting darker towards the tip, contrasting with white tips to the tail feathers, showing as a prominent white band in flight. The black bill is finely pointed, the eye is bright red, and the legs are black and very slender. Grey warblers often catch insects from the outside of the canopy while hovering, which no other New Zealand bird does, making them identifiable by behaviour from a long distance.
The grey warbler have a characteristic long trilled song. The song is louder than expected, given the bird’s size. Only males sing, although females do give short chirp calls, usually as a contact call near the male. Nestlings and fledglings have a high pitched begging call. Begging calls are mimicked by their brood parasite, the shining cuckoo, while in the nest and as a dependent fledgling.
They are typically found only in woody vegetation, in mid to high levels of the canopy, making them difficult to observe.
Breeding
Grey warblers breed in spring and summer, typically from August to January, but can be as early as July and as late as February.
The nest is a hanging enclosed dome, usually found in the outer branches of the canopy, 2-4 m off the ground. Nests are usually placed in tree species with smaller leaves, such as manuka, kanuka and Coprosma. The nest Interior is lined with soft material such as wool, hair or feathers.
Females lay 3-5 eggs per clutch. Eggs are white with reddish brown speckles concentrated towards the blunt end.
Grey warblers are the only mainland host for the brood parasitic shining cuckoo. The female shining cuckoo removes a single egg from the clutch, replacing it with her egg. No egg rejection behaviour is shown by the grey warbler. After hatching, the cuckoo chick ejects all grey warbler eggs and/or nestlings from the nest and is raised alone.
Food
Caterpillars, flies, beetles, moths and other small invertebrates.
They are typically seen foraging on the bark of trunks and branches of trees, or hovering just outside the canopy while they glean insects from the outer leaves.
Waiheke Locations
Dense vegetation
I was fortunate to spot one flying around on a farm property while i was clearing some gorse and fortunately i had my camera, so of course i grabbed a few shots.
Grey Warblers are flying birds they are not just on Waiheke, they can be found in other areas of New Zealand. these are just areas I’ve spotted them on Waiheke and photographed.
Gallery
