Kalkadoon grasswren

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Kalkadoon grasswren
Amytornis ballarae 77542098 (cropped).jpg
A. ballarae in Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Maluridae
Genus: Amytornis
Species:
A. ballarae
Binomial name
Amytornis ballarae
Condon, 1969

The Kalkadoon grasswren (Amytornis ballarae), also called the Ballara grasswren, is a species of passerine bird in the family Maluridae. It is endemic to Australia.

Contents

Taxonomy

It was formerly treated as a subspecies of the dusky grasswren. The English qualifier ‘Kalkadoon’ refers to the name of the Aboriginal group that live in the area where it is found. The specific epithet ballarae refers to the deserted mining town of Ballara, in north-western Queensland between Mount Isa and Cloncurry.

Description

It is similar to the dusky grasswren, though the markings are generally brighter and more defined, e.g. the wing coverts and remiges are grayish with a small rufous patch at the base of the outer remiges, compared with the same parts of the dusky grasswren being a uniformly dull rufous-brown.

Distribution and habitat

The Kalkadoon grasswren has a restricted range, being endemic to spinifex covered hills in the Selwyn Range system of north-west Queensland.

Related Research Articles

Australasian wren Family of birds

The Australasian wrens are a family, Maluridae, of small, insectivorous passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea. While commonly known as wrens, they are unrelated to the true wrens. The family comprises 29 species in six genera.

Grey grasswren Species of bird

The grey grasswren is a passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is found on arid inland floodplains of Australia where it is endemic. The grey grasswren is a rarely seen elusive bird that was first sighted in 1921 but not taxonomically described until 1968. Its greyish coloration and very long tail distinguish it from all other grasswrens. While some recent research has been conducted, there still remain many gaps in the knowledge about the ecology of this cryptic bird.

Grasswren Genus of birds

Grasswrens (Amytornis) are a genus of birds in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae.

Carpentarian grasswren Species of bird

The Carpentarian grasswren is a species of bird in the family Maluridae. It is endemic to Australia.

Eyrean grasswren Species of bird

The Eyrean grasswren is a small grasswren from the Passerine family Maluridae. This is a cryptically plumaged and uncommon bird endemic to arid regions of Central Australia. The species was discovered by F.W. Andrews in 1874 around the Macumba River at Lake Eyre, and named after the South Australian Surveyor General George Woodroffe Goyder.

Black grasswren Species of bird

The black grasswren, known as dalal to the Wunambal people, is a species of bird in the family Maluridae. It is endemic to Western Australia.

Short-tailed grasswren Species of bird

The short-tailed grasswren is a species of bird in the family Maluridae. It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitats are temperate shrubland and rocky areas.

Dusky grasswren Species of bird

The dusky grasswren is a species of small passerine bird in the family Maluridae. The species is endemic to Australia but is limited to inland areas of the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia.

Striated grasswren Species of bird

The striated grasswren is a small, cryptically coloured ground-dwelling species of wren-like bird in the family Maluridae, endemic to Australia. It occupies a large discontinuous range across arid and semi-arid areas of western, central and southern Australia where it is associated with spinifex (Triodia) grass.

Thick-billed grasswren Species of bird

The thick-billed grasswren is a species of bird in the family Maluridae. It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.

White-throated grasswren Species of bird

The white-throated grasswren, also known as Yirlinkirrkirr in the local language, is a species of bird in the family Maluridae. It is endemic to northern Australia, found only in West Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory (NT).

Ballara is the site of a deserted mining town in the locality of Kuridala in north-western Queensland, Australia, in the Selwyn Range between the towns of Mount Isa and Cloncurry. It is within the local government area of Shire of Cloncurry.

Buckley River Important Bird Area

The Buckley River Important Bird Area comprises a 4790 km2 tract of land in the Gulf Country of north-western Queensland, Australia. It lies about 20 km north of the mining city of Mount Isa in the Waggaboonyah Range. It is an important site for Carpentarian grasswrens.

Western grasswren Species of bird

The western grasswren, also referred to as the thick-billed grasswren and, formerly, as the textile wren, is a species of bird in the family Maluridae. It is endemic to Australia. It was formerly lumped as the nominate subspecies of the thick-billed grasswren.

Kalkadoon may refer to:

The Opalton grasswren is an insectivorous bird in the family Maluridae. It is found in the Forsyth Range,. Formerly considered a sub-species of the Striated Grasswren, then known as the Rusty Grasswren. It is found around the opal mining area of Opalton and Lark Quarry south of Winton, Western Queensland. It was named as a full species by the I.O.C. in July 2020.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2022). "Amytornis ballarae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2022: e.T22735654A211119632. Retrieved 22 July 2022.