1) Family name: Atrichornithidae
2) Scientific name: Atrichornis clamosus
3) English name: Noisy Scrub-Bird
4) Subspecies survival status: Endangered.
[(The population has recovered from 40 singing makes in the 1960s to 291
singing males in 1991, all are in a single area of fire-prone habitat and
active management continues to be necessary. By proposed new IUCN
criteria categorized as Endangered (probably <500; a single fire could
result in >50% population reduction within 5 to 10 generations).]
5) Former distribution: South-west
Western Australia including Waroona, Ausgusta, Mount Barker and Albany.
6) Current distribution: Five sites
east of Albany between Oyster Harbor and Cheyne Beach. Recorded in
2 one degree blocks in RAOU Atlas, breeding in both.
7) Habitat: Low forest, scrub and
thicket, overgrown swamps and dense health characteristically with a dense
under story and damp substrate.
8) Reasons for decline: Changed burning
regimes (confirmed), clearance for agriculture (confirmed). Clearance
of habitat for agriculture and deliberate burning late last century all
but eliminated the species. A single small population survived in
an area protected from fire by the terrain. Clearance of habitat
could fragment and prevent dispersal of the now expanding population.
9) Conservation reserves on which subspecies
occurs: Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve
10) Public land on which subspecies occurs:
Western Australia Water Authority Reserve, Angove River Catchment, Goodga
River Reserve, Boulder Hill Shire Reserve, unvested Crown Land north of
Mount Manypeaks Nature Reserve.
11) Other land on which subspecies occurs:
Private land near Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve
12) Is knowledge about subspecies adequate
for objectives and actions to be defined accurately? No
a) Knowledge of habitat requirements still not adequate to guarantee success
of translocation.
13) Recovery plan objectives: a)
To increase the population and the number of reserves in which the species
occurs so that there are 6-8 populations containing more than 40 singing
males. b) To downgrade to Rare within 10 years.
14) Actions already initiated: a)
Detailed ecological research has been conducted on Two Peoples Bay Nature
Reserve by the Western Australian Department of Conservation and Land Management
and CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology. b) New populations have
been established at two reserves by translocation of breeding birds.
c) A recovery team is being set up and revised management plan is being
prepared.
15) Actions required: a) Continue
protection and monitoring of existing populations. b) Investigate
habitat use in existing sites and condition of habitat at sites of previous
translocations. c) Establish assessment procedures for testing new
sites. d) Assess new sites and translocate more birds to them.
e) Make assistance with translocation part of the Ranger Training Program
for the Western Australian Department of Conservation and Land Management
16) Organizations responsible for conservation
os subspecies: Western Australian Department of Conservation
and Land Management/ Alan Danks, Allan Burbidge.
17) Other organizations and individuals
involved: CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology/ Graeme Smith.
18) Can the recovery plan be carried
out with existing resources? No. a) In association with
existing staff at Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve investigate habitat usage,
prepare translocation assessment procedures, assess new translocation sites,
continue translocation program.