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<\/p>\nEcologists say they have confirmed the presence of a critically endangered bird on a western Queensland pastoral lease where it was previously unrecorded.<\/p>\n
Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) staff photographed the rare plains-wanderer, known for its black and white neck and shy behaviour, on a cattle station near Bedourie while picking up audio recordings as part of a recent monitoring project.<\/p>\n
31 bioacoustic recorders across the property also picked up its call.<\/p>\n
The bird is difficult to find due to its low population, estimated at 250-1,000 individuals.<\/p>\n
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AWC staff sighted the plains-wanderer multiple times over several days on a western Queensland NAPCo property. (Supplied: Australian Wildlife Conservancy\/Hayden DeVilliers)<\/p>\n
Researchers say the extent of the bird’s peripheral populations in semi-arid regions of Queensland and South Australia is poorly studied, with its distribution better defined in New South Wales and Victoria.<\/p>\n
AWC staff member Jamie Hackeson said he was among the first to see the species on the property.<\/p>\n
“Encountering the plains-wanderer on that night felt like finding a needle in a haystack,” he said.<\/p>\n
The bird was spotted as part of a project that aims to track endangered species across 6 million hectares of pastoral land.<\/p>\n
The cattle station where the bird was spotted has not been publicised by ecologists for fear of habitat disturbance.<\/p>\n
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The plains-wanderer expertly camouflages in low vegetation, making it difficult to find. (Supplied: Australian Wildlife Conservancy\/Jamie Hackeson)<\/p>\n
Spotting rare bird comes down to ‘luck’<\/p>\n
An algorithm developed by researchers at the Queensland University of Technology sorted through thousands of hours of audio recorded across the property, flagging potential plains-wanderer calls.<\/p>\n
AWC wildlife ecologist Tessa Manning manually checked 3,000 of the recordings and found the algorithm sometimes confused the plains-wanderer’s low call with dingoes.<\/p>\n
“Some people compare it to cattle, like a mooing sound,” she said.Loading…<\/p>\n
She verified that 16 monitoring stations captured more than 10 plains-wanderer calls each.<\/p>\n
Ms Manning said the bird’s appearance and tendency to hide under low vegetation can make it even more elusive.<\/p>\n
“They’re very small, and they’re very, very good at camouflaging \u2026 you just can’t see them until you’re on top of them,” Ms Manning said.<\/p>\n
“It’s just a bit of luck of the draw to actually see the plains-wanderer.”<\/p>\n
Far-flung bird populations come to light<\/p>\n
University of Adelaide PhD candidate Saskia Gerhardy is compiling data to develop a species distribution model for the bird.<\/p>\n
“They are a species that we can’t really get a good number on at the moment because they’re so cryptic, because they’re so far-flung across the range,” she said.<\/p>\n