The range and habitat of the Kalkadoon Grasswren Amytornis ballarae
Graham Harrington, Adam McKeown, Brian Venables
pp. 12-17
Abstract
In this paper we discuss the results of the first comprehensive survey of the range and habitat of the Kalkadoon Grasswren Amytornis ballarae. This grasswren is of particular interest because (1) It is not classed as a Restricted Range Species by BirdLife International although we show that it occupies <50 000 km2; (2) This species lives in a fireprone environment, and the habitat is unsuitable for at least 3 years after fire. The movement and fate of the birds in these circumstances is unknown; (3) It is sympatric with the Carpentarian Grasswren A. dorotheae over part of its range, raising questions about competition between the species; and (4) The spatial and behavioural separation from the closely related Dusky Grasswren A. purnelli is not well defined. In 2008 and 2009, we visited 195 locations in firescars of known age within the known range of the Kalkadoon Grasswren and played calls of Kalkadoon and Carpentarian Grasswrens at 6–10 sites in each, totalling 1491 survey sites. We encountered 81 groups of Kalkadoon Grasswrens. They showed a marked preference for metamorphosed sandstone and marble. They were almost always found on rocky hills, but if on flat areas they were within 300 m of hills. Spinifex Triodia spp. dominated the ground-layer at all the sites where Kalkadoon Grasswrens were located. Ground-cover by spinifex increased annually after fire and plateaued after 6 years. Kalkadoon Grasswrens had returned to 30% of 3- and 4-year-old firescars, but occurred in 90% of locations surveyed which had not been burnt for ≥10 years. No grasswrens were encountered in surveys between the currently published ranges of the Dusky Grasswren in the Northern Territory and the Kalkadoon Grasswren in Queensland. This paper provides a distribution map, and defines the habitat variables for the Kalkadoon Grasswren. Our mapping shows that the range of the Kalkadoon Grasswren is ~40 000 km2, which qualifies it as a BirdLife International Restricted Range Species. We argue that an Important Bird Area should be declared for conserving and monitoring this species alone, where it is not sympatric with the Carpentarian Grasswren.
References
Carruthers, R.K., Horton, W. & Vernon, D.P. (1970). Distribution, habits and sexual dimorphism of the Western Grasswren, Amytornis textilis ballareae in northwestern Queensland. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 16, 334–341.
Condon, H.T. (1969). A new subspecies of the Western Grass-Wren, Amytornis textilis (Dumont) in north-western Queensland. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 15, 205–206.
Crowley, G.M., Garnett, S.T. & Shephard, S. (2004). Management Guidelines for Golden-shouldered Parrot Conservation. Queensland Parks & Wildlife Service, Brisbane.
Dutson, G., Garnett, S. & Gole, C. (2009). Australia’s Important Bird Areas. Birds Australia Conservation Statement No. 15. Birds Australia, Melbourne.
Felderhof, L. (2007). The Fire Patchiness Paradigm: A Case Study in Northwest Queensland. PhD thesis. James Cook University, Cairns, Qld.
Garnett, S.T. & Franklin, D. (2014). Climate Change Adaptation Plan for Australian Birds. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
Garnett, S., Szabo, J. & Dutson, G. (2011). The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
Gaston, K.J. & Fuller, R.A. (2009). The sizes of species’ geographic ranges. Journal of Applied Ecology 46, 1–9.
Harrington, G.N. & Murphy, S.A. (2016). The distribution and conservation status of Carpentarian Grasswrens (Amytornis dorotheae), with reference to prevailing fire patterns. Pacific Conservation Biology 21, 291–297.
Higgins, P.J., Peter, J.M. & Steele, W.K. (2001). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds, Volume. 5: Tyrantflycatchers to Chats. Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
Horton, H. (2011). Of spinifex and grasswrens, with particular reference to Amytornis ballareae, the Kalkadoon Grasswren. Queensland Naturalist 49, 1–3.
Murphy, S., Harrington, G. & Felderhof, L. (2011). Preliminary spatial model using fire scar data to monitor Carpentarian Grasswrens. Report by Map IT, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences and Birds Australia North Queensland. Available online: http://birdlifenq.org/pdfs/Fire%20challenge%20report%20-%20April%202011.pdf (retrieved 21 July 2016).
Plowright, H. (1994). A Field Guide to Australian Birdsong, CD 5: Tawny Frogmouth to Kalkadoon Grasswren. Bird Observers Club of Australia, Melbourne.
Rowley, I. & Russell, E. (1997). Fairy-wrens and Grasswrens. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
Schodde, R. (1982). The Fairy-wrens: A Monograph of the Maluridae. Lansdowne Editions, Melbourne.
Schodde, R. & Mason, I.J. (1999). The Directory of Australian Birds: Passerines. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
Stattersfield, A.J., Crosby, M.J., Long, A.J. & Wege, D.C. (1998). Endemic Bird Areas of the World: Priorities for Biodiversity Conservation. Birdlife International, Cambridge, UK.
VanDerVal, J., Murphy, H.T., Kutt, A.S., Perkins, G.C., Bateman, B.L. Perry, J.J. & Reside, A.E. (2013). Focus on polewards shifts in species’ distribution underestimates the fingerprint of climate change. Nature Climate Change 3, 239–243.