Chowchilla
Orthonyx spaldingii E. P. Ramsay, 1868
The chowchilla (Orthonyx spaldingii) is a species in the family Orthonychidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 129 g to 187 g. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the chowchilla
- Weight
- 129 g – 187 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
Where does the chowchilla live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The chowchilla is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the chowchilla?
The chowchilla (Orthonyx spaldingii) is a passerine bird in the family Orthonychidae. It is endemic to Australia.
From the Wikipedia article “Chowchilla” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chowchilla&oldid=1380593362), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the chowchilla endangered?
The chowchilla is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the chowchilla classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyOrthonychidae
- genusOrthonyx
- SpeciesOrthonyx spaldingii E. P. Ramsay, 1868
Synonyms Macrothonyx spaldingi albiventer, Orthonix spaldingii
Other names and names in other languages (31)
- ortònix de SpaldingCatalan
- kosík pospolitýCzech
- Stor TømmerløberDanish
- SchwarzkopfflöterGerman
- Schwarzkopf-LaufflöterGerman
- Schwarzkopf-StachelschwanzflöterGerman
- nigrakapa ortonikoEsperanto
- Colaespina de SpaldingSpanish
- suur-kõdulindEstonian
- mustapenkojaFinnish
- mustamaatimaliFinnish
- Orthonyx de SpaldingFrench
- mrka oštrorepkaCroatian
- feketefejű avarjáróHungarian
- メジロハシリチメドリJapanese
- juodagalvė čaučilaLithuanian
- brilleskraphaleNorwegian Bokmål
- ZwartkopraltimaliaDutch
- ZwartkopstronkloperDutch
- brilleskrapstjertNorwegian
- ziemnodrozd dużyPolish
- corre-cepos-grandePortuguese
- corre-troncos-de-spaldingPortuguese
- ЧаучиллаRussian
- Черноголовая чаучиллаRussian
- tŕňochvost čaučilaSlovak
- Crna šutkaSerbian
- Alaca DalcambazıTurkish
- чаучила чорноголоваUkrainian
- 黑頭木鶇Chinese
- 黑头刺尾鸫Chinese
Relatives of the chowchilla
Other species in the same genus Orthonyx.
Australian logrunner
Orthonyx temminckii
Papuan logrunner
Orthonyx novaeguineae
CompareChowchilla vs Australian logrunnerChowchilla vs Papuan logrunner
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the chowchilla?
An adult chowchilla weighs 129 g – 187 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the chowchilla live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the chowchilla for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
Is the chowchilla endangered?
The chowchilla is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the chowchilla?
The chowchilla (Orthonyx spaldingii) belongs to the family Orthonychidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Chowchilla (Orthonyx spaldingii). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/chowchilla
“Chowchilla (Orthonyx spaldingii).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/chowchilla.
@misc{chowchilla_2026,
title = {Chowchilla (Orthonyx spaldingii)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/chowchilla},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}