Justification This species has a small and severely fragmented range within which habitat is continuing to decline owing to fire. It is now known to be undergoing a very rapid population reduction and this has caused it to be uplisted to Endangered. It requires immediate sensitive habitat management to help slow this worrying decline.

Family/Sub-family Maluridae

Species name author Campbell, 1908

Taxonomic source(s) Christidis and Boles (1994), Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993)

Identification 13-14.5 cm. Tiny-bodied, streaked wren with brown, filamentous tail of 8-9.5 cm. Grey-brown upperparts, coarsely streaked darker. Rufous cap. Orange-buff below in both sexes. Male has sky-blue face and bib. Female whitish around eye, rufous only on forehead. Juvenile plainer. Similar spp. Confusion unlikely. Southern Emu-wren S. malachurus has longer tail and is darker with more extensive streaking on crown. Fairy-wrens Malurus spp. are larger, unstreaked, with non-filamentous tails. Voice Trills and twitters like Malurus spp., but higher-pitched. Hints Secretive. Often cocks tail. Look and listen for on calm days in dense spinifex Triodia.

Population estimate

Population trend

Range estimate (breeding/resident)

Country endemic?

1,500 - 2,800

decreasing

20,100 km²

Yes

Range & population Stipiturus mallee has a severely fragmented distribution in the Victorian and South Australian mallee regions, Australia, south and east of the Murray River. In South Australia, birds were found in Ngarkat and associated conservation parks but, in 1989, apparently disappeared from the isolated Billiatt Conservation Park as a result of fire. In Victoria, birds ranged from Sunset Country, east to Anuello Fauna and Flora Reserve, south-east of Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, and in the Big Desert (Wyperfeld) east to Bronzewing State Faunal Reserve. The species is now considered to be confined to three subpopulations: Ngarkat Conservation Park, Murray Sunset National Park, and Hattah-Kulkyne National Park and adjacent Crown land¹. Birds are unlikely to disperse more than 5 km, meaning that this species's subpopulations are effectively isolated³. The population was estimated at c.10,000 individuals and judged to be declining by Garnett and Crowley (2000), though at the time there was no reasonable data for estimating the population using any formal methodology¹. More recently the population has been estimated at only 2,100-4,200 individuals, including perhaps 1,500-2,800 mature individuals¹. Declines have been significant in the southern and western parts of the species's range. Some isolated populations in Victoria and South Australia are now considered to be very small and in some cases verging on extinction¹. The Ngarkat population is now considered to be the only viable population remaining in South Australia, due to a series of fires that have affected the conservation park since 2004². The extent of the species's range in Ngarkat, appears to have declined by 95% (c.90% of the range in South Australia) from about 2000 km² in the early to mid-1990s, and numbers have gone from perhaps 'thousands' to no more than 100 individuals^2,3. Similar patterns of decline have been reported in Victora², of 868 playback survey sites covering the Murray Mallee Reserve System the species was only recorded at 15 sites in the Murray-Sunset National Park and one in the Big Desert⁶. Its status in South Australia is now considered critical¹. The total area of suitable habitat was estimated to be less than 2,000 km² by Garnett and Crowley (2000) , but conservative estimates have put this at less than 4,000 km² more recently¹ . The species is expected to continue to decline over the next 10 years, as pressures from fire and drought have not altered¹.

Important Bird Areas Click here to view map showing IBAs where species is recorded and triggers any of the IBA criteria.

Ecology: It occupies habitats containing hummock grassland Triodia, usually within low woodland dominated by mallee eucalypts Eucalyptus and cypress pine Callitris. It also occurs in heath containing banksias Banksia or casuarinas Allocasuarina. In Ngarkat, it can disperse at least 6 km into vegetation recovering from fire, 3-4 years after it has been burnt. Highest densities occur 8-10 years after fire, although it persists in vegetation 50 years old. Much apparently suitable habitat is unoccupied. Throughout its range it appears to be confined to relatively small discontinuous fragments of habitat¹. Anecdotal evidence suggests that habitat suitability may be influenced by rainfall through its affect on the health of Triodia, and in turn on the abundance of insect prey. Annual rainfall increases as a gradient heading east, and may explain why eastern areas of its range seem to be a stronghold¹. Occasional increases in adult mortality may be offset by a meta-population structure which is bolstered by cooperative breeding⁵.

Threats Past clearance for agriculture and livestock grazing has fragmented habitat, and the greatest current threat is large-scale wildfires within remnants, such as occurred in Billiatt Conservation Park. Recent declines in South Australia coincided with droughts and a sequence of extensive fires³. This population may not be able to persist or reclaim its former distribution because it is surrounded by large areas of recently burnt heath³. Following fires, mallee-heath requires 5-10 years of regeneration before it is suitable for the species^2,3. Relatively small changes in habitat quality could cause sudden local declines, and the loss of, or changes to peripheral habitat may affect core habitat⁵. Mallee-heath is used in the east of the species's range, and may mean that the strongholds of the species are at most risk from loss to single fire events¹. The species's habitat is now so fragmented that any single fire event could be catastrophic¹. The use of strategic fire-breaks has been unsuccessful in protecting subpopulations of this species³. Drought also puts pressure on the species, especially in the west of its range, where populations may be thinly distributed as a result¹, and a long term drought could result in a crash in local populations⁵. Habitat fragmentation has taken place within the area of Hattah-Kulkyne National Park and adjacent Crown land; the area is bisected by the Calder Highway and a railway line, and a swathe of habitat has been removed beneath power lines. Other developments threatening further fragmentation include plans submitted for an industrial toxic waste facility at Nowingi in an area of densely occupied habitat³, in a location which is key to the species's long-term survival⁵, and the Mildura fire plan has proposed to burn a 250 m wide strip down the west side of the Calder Highway. If suitable habitat does not become available to replace current habitat that deteriorates through old age, as compounded by drought and fires, then numbers of this species have the potential to decline sharply within decades⁴.

Conservation measures underway An extensive reserve system incorporates most of its remaining range, including Hattah-Kulkyne and Wyperfeld National Parks, Murray-Sunset National Park, the Big Desert Wilderness in Victoria and Ngarkat Conservation Park in South Australia. Studies into this species's population and ecology have been ongoing and a student started a PhD project on this species in 2006⁵.

Conservation measures proposed Determine the current range. Establish monitoring of known populations. Establish a fire management programme that will ensure the conservation of the species within its existing range. Re-establish the species in areas from which it has been eliminated by fire.

References Garnett and Crowley (2000). 1. Mustoe (2006). 2. D. Paton per Mustoe (2006). 3. D. Paton in litt. (2006). 4. S. Brown in litt. (2006). 5. S. Mustoe in litt. (2006). 6. Clarke (2006).

Further web sources of information

Australian Govt - Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000 - Recovery Outline

Text account compilers Phil Benstead (BirdLife International), Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Stephen Garnett (Birds Australia), Simon Mahood (BirdLife International), Rachel McClellan (BirdLife International), Joe Taylor (BirdLife International)

Contributors Sarah Brown, Guy Dutson (Birds Australia), Hugh Ford (Dept of Zoology, University of New England), Stephen Garnett (Charles Darwin University), Peter Menkhorst (DSE, Victoria), Simon Mustoe (Applied Ecology Solutions Pty Ltd), David Paton (University of Adelaide), Don Saunders

IUCN Red List evaluators Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Simon Mahood (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Stipiturus mallee. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 10/2/2010

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

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