In contrast, the whipbirds (eastern and western) whilst sharing many similarities with the wedgebills, are evidently different, especially in plumage.
The chirruping wedgebill is located on the plains of central Australia, mainly among the Lachlan and Darling, however, they have been found on the lower Naomi.
[9] Currently, the chirruping wedgebill is found as far east as the Darling River near Louth (30°35’S, 145°05’E), Coronga Peak (30°45’S, 146°19’E), and Cobar (31°30’S, 145°50’E).
Records indicate the western whipbird is also found in Mt Gardner, Two People Bay, Mallee country, Banksia, stunted heath around Gnowangerup, and Borden.
[7] Members within the genus Psophodes are closely related to the quail thrushes within the Corvida family Cinclosomatidae.
Rogers and Mulder (2004) [12] also suggest two subspecies of the eastern whipbird, the southern P. livaceus and the northern P. lateralis.
[15] Their preferred habitat consists of two-layered formation 2–3 metres high with understoreys which are dense to mid-dense.
[16] It is observed that the eastern whipbird prefers tall moist forest and riparian areas,[17] even though the upper layer is rarely used.
[11] Common amongst all species of Psophodes, the surrounding flora has a ground layer of approximately 5 cm deep mainly made from sclerophyllous leaves.
There is also a preference for broombush (Melaleuca uncinata) likely due to the rapid growth after fire, however, harvesting of this plant is a cause for concern for these birds.
[18] Areas such as open grassy understorey can equate to a lower quality habitat and therefore a smaller population of birds per hectare than densely shrub covered locations.
Furthermore, Rogers (2005)[20] suggests that the duet function is associated with a convergence of sexual roles, such as territorial defense and courtship.
Psophodes duets are perfectly timed making it sound as though the song is coming from an individual bird.
[20] In addition, Watson (1969)[6] indicates that antiphonal song is linked to the monogamous bond between the birds and is an evolutionary adaptation to the environment.
Psophodes males sing a long drawn-out whistle with a sudden and explosive whip-like crack (giving them their name).
[20] The structure of the song within the eastern whipbird changes around 9 times depending on the pitch of the introductory whistle and the frequency and speed of the ‘crack’.
[6] When males and females in a monogamous relationship feed, they would generally sing to give their locality to their partner indicating they were not far away from each other.
In other situations, such as when the birds did not want to be located, they would commonly only sing the introductory whistle which is harder to pick the locality because of the lack of a changing pitch and frequency.
[20] Whipbirds and wedgebills generally feed on prey including insects (hexapoda) and spiders (Araneae).
[21] In addition to this research, the eastern whipbird has an average foraging height of 1.1m showing the bird does not feed very high off the ground.
[12] The reason for the low number of clutches is not well known, however, it has been put down to limited food availability, predation risk, and seasonal fluctuations in resources.
[24] Australia has played an integral role in the diversification of many animals and plants throughout the years including Passeriformes (perching birds).
[25] The following pluvial (rain) periods allowed the whipbirds on the western side to migrate east and take up areas near the Murray basin.
[11] Given the phenomenon of climate change, fires in the area are set to increase and further harm the survival chances of Psophodes.