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- Title
The range and habitat of the Kalkadoon Grasswren Amytornis ballarae.
- Authors
Harrington, Graham; McKeown, Adam; Venables, Brian
- 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.
- Subjects
GRASSWRENS; BIRD habitats; RANGE ecology; BIRD variation; ANIMAL species
- Publication
Australian Field Ornithology, 2017, Vol 34, p12
- ISSN
1448-0107
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.20938/afo34012017