Black-tailed Whistler

1. Male: black head, white throat, yellow collar, and yellow underparts

2. Both sexes: thick black bill and black tail

3. Prefers mangrove forests and adjacent coastal woodlands

These whistlers are year-round residents, rarely venturing far from their chosen territories. Their sturdy bills are used to extract insects and other invertebrates from bark and foliage. Breeding occurs from September to January. Both parents build the nest \- a small bowl of twigs and bark bound with spider webs, and share incubation duties. Females typically lay 2-3 eggs, and both adults incubate them for about 15 days. The chicks fledge roughly 12 days after hatching.

Look for Black-tailed Whistlers in mangrove forests and nearby wet woodlands across northern Australia, including the Northern Territory, north-western Western Australia, and coastal Queensland. While the western subspecies is mostly restricted to mangroves, those in the north and east can also be found in low tropical scrub and on offshore islands. They are most often seen in the upper canopy, moving deliberately among branches, and are particularly vocal during the early morning and late afternoon.