Pachycephala pectoralis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The Australian golden whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis) or golden whistler, is a species of passerine bird in the family Pachycephalidae. It is found in forest, woodland, mallee, mangrove and scrub in Australia (except the interior and most of the north). Most populations are resident, but some in south-eastern Australia migrate north during the winter. Its taxonomy is highly complex and remains a matter of dispute, with some authorities including as many as 59 subspecies of the golden whistler (one of the highest numbers of subspecies in any bird), while others treat several of these as separate species.
The Australian golden whistler was formally described in 1802 as Muscicapa pectoralis by the English ornithologist John Latham. The specific epithet is Latin meaning "of the breast" or "pectoral". A year earlier he had described the species under the English name, the "black-breasted flycatcher", but had not coined a binomial name. Latham gave the type locality as Nova Hollandia in Australia but this was restricted to Port Jackson, Sydney, New South Wales by Gregory Mathews in 1920. The Australian golden whistler is now placed in the genus Pachycephala that was introduced... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Springbrook National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Flinders Chase | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Booderee National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Maria Island National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 10 | Kosciuszko National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 11 | Wilsons Promontory National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 12 | Rottnest Island | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 13 | Freycinet National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 14 | Noosa National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 15 | Hattah-Kulkyne National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 16 | Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 17 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Golden Whistler sighting in Rottnest Island on a given day, based on 101 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 38th most-seen of the 81 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Golden Whistler in Rottnest Island on a given day, against about 10% in January–February, May, August and October, the lowest months. That is one of Rottnest Island's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain against 120 mm in June.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Golden Whistler sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
12th of 17
Of the 17 parks where we can rate Golden Whistler sightings, Rottnest Island ranks 12th at about 20%. The best odds are in Lamington National Park (Australia, about 60%), Springbrook National Park (Australia, about 40%) and Blue Mountains National Park (Australia, about 40%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Golden Whistler is recorded against all the birds logged in Rottnest Island (101 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.
