Rifleman
Acanthisitta chloris (Sparrman, 1787)
The rifleman (Acanthisitta chloris) is a species in the family Acanthisittidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 6 g to 7.55 g and live up to 5.17 years. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the rifleman
- Weight
- 6 g – 7.55 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 5.17 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 19.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc 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 rifleman 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 rifleman 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 rifleman?
The rifleman (Acanthisitta chloris) (Māori: titipounamu or tītitipounamu) is a small insectivorous passerine bird that is endemic to New Zealand. It belongs to the family Acanthisittidae, also known as the New Zealand wrens, of which it is one of only two surviving species. The rifleman resembles a wren in form, but is not related to the family of true wrens, Troglodytidae, nor the fairy-wrens of Australia.
From the Wikipedia article “Rifleman (bird)” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rifleman_%28bird%29&oldid=1360682935), 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 rifleman endangered?
The rifleman 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 rifleman classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyAcanthisittidae
- genusAcanthisitta
- SpeciesAcanthisitta chloris (Sparrman, 1787)
Synonyms Acanthidositta chloris, Acanthisitta punctata, Acanthisitta tenuirostris, Acanthiza tenuirostris, Motacilla citrinella, Sitta chloris, Sitta punctata
Other names and names in other languages (35)
- حامل البندقيةArabic
- acantisita bec d'alenaCatalan
- pokřovník zelenýCzech
- KlatresmutteDanish
- GrünschlüpferGerman
- GrenadierGerman
- GrünstummelschwanzGerman
- verda akantisitoEsperanto
- Acantisita verdosoSpanish
- õõne-nürisabaEstonian
- metsävilistäjäFinnish
- Xénique grimpeurFrench
- šumski palčacCroatian
- álcsuszkaHungarian
- FuciliereItalian
- AcantisittaItalian
- ミドリイワサザイJapanese
- žalioji pitaLithuanian
- TītitipounamuMāori
- GeweervogelDutch
- skogklatresmettNorwegian
- barglikPolish
- carricita-verdosaPortuguese
- Carriça-da-Nova-ZelândiaPortuguese
- carriça-neozelandesa-verdePortuguese
- СтрелокRussian
- Зелёный стрелокRussian
- striežik zelenkavýSlovak
- Carić puškarSerbian
- klättersmygSwedish
- NişancıTurkish
- TitiponamuTurkish
- стрілецьUkrainian
- 刺鷯Chinese
- 刺鹩Chinese
Relatives of the rifleman
Other species in the same family Acanthisittidae.
New Zealand rock wren
Xenicus gilviventris
Bushwren
Xenicus longipes
Lyall's wren
Traversia lyalli
CompareRifleman vs New Zealand rock wrenRifleman vs BushwrenRifleman vs Kuiornis indicatorRifleman vs Lyall's wren
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the rifleman?
An adult rifleman weighs 6 g – 7.55 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the rifleman live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the rifleman for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
Is the rifleman endangered?
The rifleman is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the rifleman live?
The rifleman has a recorded lifespan of 5.17 years.
What kind of animal is the rifleman?
The rifleman (Acanthisitta chloris) belongs to the family Acanthisittidae 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). Rifleman (Acanthisitta chloris). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/rifleman
“Rifleman (Acanthisitta chloris).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/rifleman.
@misc{rifleman_2026,
title = {Rifleman (Acanthisitta chloris)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/rifleman},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}