Western grasswren

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Western grasswren
Amytornis textilis - Thick-billed Grasswren.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Maluridae
Genus: Amytornis
Species:
A. textilis
Binomial name
Amytornis textilis
(Quoy & Gaimard, 1824) [2]
Subspecies

See text

The western grasswren (Amytornis textilis), formerly known 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. [3]

Contents

History

The species, indeed the genus, was first collected in 1818 on Shark Bay’s Peron Peninsula, in northwest Western Australia, by Jean René Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard, naturalists with Louis de Freycinet's circumnavigational exploring expedition in the French corvette Uranie. Although the original specimen was apparently lost with the shipwreck of the Uranie in the Falkland Islands, it had been illustrated by expedition artist Jacques Arago and was described (as Malurus textilis) by Charles Dumont in 1824. [2]

Description

A species of Amytornis , the western grasswren is a small, shy, mainly terrestrial bird. It has brown plumage, finely streaked with black and white, and a long, slender tail. Males are slightly larger than females, with adult males weighing 22–27 g and females 20–25 g. Females develop distinctive chestnut patches on their flanks beneath their wings at 1–2 months old. They are usually found in groups of two or three. [4]

Subspecies

Recognised subspecies are: [2] [3]

Other described subspecies of doubtful validity include: [2]

Distribution and habitat

Nest and eggs, East Murchison district Emu volume 9 plate 20.jpg
Nest and eggs, East Murchison district

The species once occurred through much of southwestern Australia, with an outlying subspecies in the Gawler Ranges of South Australia. The range of the nominate subspecies, which used to inhabit inland locations, has contracted westwards to the Shark Bay region since 1910. The cause is probably the decline in habitat quality resulting from overgrazing, which has reduced the availability of cover and nesting sites. Its preferred habitat is low, often Acacia dominated, semiarid shrubland, no more than a metre in height, that forms densely foliaged clumps and thickets. [4]

The Southwest Australian subspecies (A. t. macrourus) is now extinct. Its preferred habitat was dense thickets within a variety of eucalypt communities. [2]

Status and conservation

The population size of the nominate subspecies (A. t. textilis) has been estimated at 21,500 individuals occurring over an area of 20,000 km2, with an area of occupancy of 1200 km2. The population comprises a large subpopulation within Francois Peron National Park and a second subpopulation consisting of several disjunct groups on nearby pastoral lands. Individuals from both populations were reintroduced to Dirk Hartog Island in 2022. [5] The generation length has been estimated at four years. Although the subspecies has suffered a severe reduction in range and population decline in the past, the remaining population is healthy and stable, and is not considered eligible for listing under Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC). [4]

The Gawler Ranges subspecies (A. t. myall) has an estimated population of about 8400 mature individuals, with a range area of 12,000 km2 and an area of occupancy of 600 km2. Its generation length has been estimated at 9.7 years and the population trend is one of decrease. [6]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey grasswren</span> 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eyrean grasswren</span> 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black grasswren</span> 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Short-tailed grasswren</span> 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dusky grasswren</span> 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Striated grasswren</span> 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thick-billed grasswren</span> 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-throated grasswren</span> 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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern emu-wren</span> Species of bird

The southern emu-wren is a species of bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, and swamplands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalkadoon grasswren</span> Species of bird

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gawler bioregion</span> Region in South Australia

Gawler is an interim Australian bioregion located in South Australia. It has an area of 12,002,883 hectares. Gawler bioregion is part of the Tirari–Sturt stony desert ecoregion.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2017). "Amytornis textilis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2017: e.T103684117A118653536. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T103684117A118653536.en . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Black, Andrew (2011). "Western Australia, home of the Grass-Wren (Amytornis textilis)" (PDF). Amytornis: Western Australian Journal of Ornithology. 3: 1–12.
  3. 1 2 Black A.B.; Joseph L.; Pedler L.P. & Carpenter G.A. (2010). "A taxonomic framework for interpreting evolution within the Amytornis textilis–modestus complex of grasswrens". Emu. 110 (4): 358–363. doi:10.1071/mu10045. S2CID   86656020.
  4. 1 2 3 "Advice to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee (the Committee) on Amendments to the list of Threatened Species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act)" (PDF). Dept of Environment and Heritage, Australia. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
  5. "Rare grasswren returns to island for first time in a century". ABC News. 2022-11-19. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  6. Stephen Garnett; Judit Szabo & Guy Dutson (2011). "Western Grasswren (Gawler Ranges)". Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010. CSIRO. Retrieved 2013-12-02.