Jacky Winter

Jacky Winter

Microeca fascinans

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Sydney

In 3 days <5%

15 Verified sightings at Sydney
929 In all 7 parks From 2019 to 2026
July Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Jacky Winter

The jacky winter (Microeca fascinans) is a small grey-brown robin found commonly throughout Australia and also in Papua New Guinea. The jacky winter acquired its name due to rapid and strong vocalisations, which sound like jacky-jacky winter-winter. Their call is also often referred to as sounding like peter-peter-peter. Its habitats include open woodlands and farmlands.

The jacky winter belongs to the family of Australasian robins and flycatchers Petroicidae. This family includes around 49 species in around 19 genera that are all endemic to Australasia. The family Petroicidae evolved in a similar way to the Australo-Papuan warblers (Acanthizidae)—the latter evolved in isolation from similar families to them, namely Parulidae and Sylviidae, which occupied comparable niches in other continental regions, such as Central /South America and Eurasia, respectively. Petroicidae evolved in the Australo-Papuan area to fill an ecological niche, which was already being used by New World flycatchers (Tyrannidae) in North America and South America, and by Old World flycatchers (Muscicapidae) in Europe, Africa, and Asia. This is an example of convergent evolution.... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song0:57

Australia · 2026

© Marc Anderson · XC1086650 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Alarm call0:22

Australia · 2017

© Martin Cake · XC372247 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:47

Australia · 2016

© Greg McLachlan · XC344579 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Hattah-Kulkyne National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
~50%
2 Grampians National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
~10%
3 Kosciuszko National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%
4 Flinders Ranges National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%
5 Blue Mountains National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%
6 Great Otway National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%
7 Kakadu National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Sydney 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Jacky Winter in Sydney?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Jacky Winter sighting in Sydney on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 206th most-seen of the 243 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Jacky Winter in Sydney?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Jacky Winter in Sydney on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Jacky Winter?

Between 9 am and noon

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Jacky Winter sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Where else can you see a Jacky Winter?

Only Sydney, in our data

Sydney is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Jacky Winter sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.

Where does the Jacky Winter sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Jacky Winter is recorded against all the birds logged in Sydney (15 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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