Acanthiza apicalis
Silhouette: Matt Wilkins (photo by Patrick Kavanagh) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The inland thornbill (Acanthiza apicalis) was originally described by English ornithologist John Gould in The Birds of Australia. Inland thornbills are within the order passerines. The inland thornbill belongs to the genus Acanthiza, which now has three more species than the eleven outlined by Gould in The Birds of Australia. The Noongar people of southwestern Western Australia call A. apicalis "Djoobi-Djoolbang". The inland thornbill is also known as the broad-tail thornbill and presently contains several subspecies that were once considered independent species. The word apicalis comes from the Latin for 'tipped'.
Early classification of the Acanthiza, or thornbill genus, was inconsistent with the currently accepted taxonomy. Historically, researchers recognised 10 -17 species in 1 – 3 genera. Separate traditional species of Thornbill have now been more accurately classified as subspecies than discrete species; however, the evolutionary relationships between inland thornbills and other Acanthizae are complicated. For example, the relationship between the inland thornbill and the brown thornbill (A. pusilla) and the mountain thornbill (A. katherina) is...
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flinders Ranges National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Hattah-Kulkyne National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Pilliga National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perth | 🇦🇺 Australia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Inland Thornbill sighting in Pilliga National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 36th most-seen of the 58 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Inland Thornbill in Pilliga National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August, the lowest month. January, March–May and October have too few records to rate.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Inland Thornbill sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
3rd of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Inland Thornbill sightings, Pilliga National Park ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Flinders Ranges National Park (Australia, about 60%) and Hattah-Kulkyne National Park (Australia, about 20%).
Same genus: Acanthiza
The closest relatives of the Inland Thornbill that you can see in Pilliga National Park (genus Acanthiza, Australasian Thornbills) are Yellow Thornbill (about 20%), Yellow-rumped Thornbill (about 10%) and Chestnut-rumped Thornbill (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Inland Thornbill is recorded against all the birds logged in Pilliga National Park (8 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
