Western SpinebillScientific name: Acanthorhynchus superciliosus

Meaning of name: Acanthorhynchus is from the Greek words acantha, meaning spine, and rhynchos, meaning beak. Superciliosus is a Latin word meaning browed.

Aboriginal name: Booldjit (bull’cheat).

Distribution: Only found in the southwest of Western Australia.

Description: Up to 15.5cm long with a 19cm wingspan.

Notes: The furthest distance recorded by the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme for this species of bird to travel is 593 km. This distance was travelled in 0.2 months (about 6 days)! The oldest bird recorded was still alive when its band was read in February 2004, 10 years 7.8 months after being banded (information as at 24 January 2018).

The photographs for this species were not taken in the reserves of interest to the FQPB.

References: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Various contributors.

What Bird is That? Neville W Cayley. 1978

Aboriginal names of bird species in south-west Western Australia, with suggestions for their adoption into common usage. Ian Abbott. 2009. Conservation Science Western Australia Journal. Volume 7 No 2  http://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/about-us/science-and-research/76-publications-and-resources/103-conservation-science-wa-journal

Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/science/abbbs/abbbs-search.html