Baillon’s Crakes at Byron Wetlands

Of the three Porzana crakes found in Australia, Baillon’s (Porzana pusilla) is the smallest and least reported. Baillon’s are reported in Birdata nearly half as frequently as the Spotted (P fluminea) and Spotless (P tabuensis) Crakes (see end note) . This may be due to a number of factors. Their habitat is similar however Spotless and Spotted do frequent more saline habitats whereas Baillon’s is more restricted to freshwater habitats and therefore being more particular have access to less habitat overall. 

The Baillon’s larger cousins are reported to forage in more open areas of mudflats where obviously they are more easily seen. The Baillon’s is regarded as secretive and mostly stays within dense vegetation, however it does forage along edges where it can be seen. Lastly it is possible the Baillon’s, which looks similar to the Spotted, is miss identified/recorded as a Spotted Crake (of course the reverse ID issue is possible).

Given the above I was fortunate to find five Baillon’s Crakes foraging mid-morning along the edge of a heavily vegetated wetland lagoon at the Byron Integrated Wastewater Management site. I managed to approach one bird, a male (note the grey face - the females have a rufous eye-stipe), which foraged in and out of cover as it slowly moved towards me. A week later I found six birds foraging in a nearby area – the last two photos are of two birds from the second photo session.

Please click on photos to enlarge.

A couple of photos from the second session a week later.

In the first photo session the bird I followed browsed continuously barely pausing and only offering a few clear photos as it moved in and out of cover. After a few minutes it moved into the dense vegetation and did not appear again. The second longer photo session involved up to six birds all out foraging at once giving plenty of subject choice. The bird’s movements were somewhat jerky with frequent tail flicks and sudden lunges for food and rapid darts into cover before emerging again to forage – this resulted in many blurred subjects so many shots were needed to gain some sharp images. 

Interestingly in the field all six birds appeared to be males with no rufous eye stripe. However on close examination of the photos some birds had a small patch of rufous in front of the eye and just a hint well behind the eye – see the following photo. 

So identifying male and female in the field on the basis of the presence/absence of a rufous eye-stripe is problematic. 

Also of interest was an obvious size difference among the six birds. While all were adults some birds looked to be decidedly smaller than others – was this a male/female difference? There is no mention in the three field guides I consulted of size difference.

End note:

The following Birdata total/all-time sighting records were taken from Explore for the three Porzana crakes found in Australia:

Baillon’s Crake 6,941 surveys 

Australian Spotted Crake 13,320 surveys

Spotless Crake 13,351 surveys

The above numbers show Baillon’s is reported in Birdata nearly half as frequently as its two larger cousins. Reports for the Spotted and Spotless are almost identical. 

This earlier Avithera post shows a Baillon’s Crake female and her young which may be of interest:

http://avithera.blogspot.com/2016/01/baillons-crake.html

Mulga Parrots

We found this quiet and unobtrusive parrot in male-female pairs in many locations across the Gluepot reserve when we were there in August 2023. A pair quietly feeding in a species of saltbush (possibly Black Blue Bush – Maireama pyramidata) at the Babbler campground gave a good opportunity for photos although the female mostly remained semi-concealed within the bush while feeding.

Please click on photos to enlarge.

The pair were eating the soft green seeds of the salt bush – they spent a good half hour continuously feeding exclusively on this food source which was widespread across the reserve.

Honeyeaters found at Gluepot

While at Gluepot in August 2022 we found six species of Honeyeater, including Spiny-cheeked, Yellow-plumed, White-fronted, Brown-headed, White-eared and Striped in that order of abundance. The best way to find honeyeaters at Gluepot is to sit in one of the five hides which are provided with permanent water troughs located across the reserve and let the birds come to you. Unfortunately for us on the second day at the reserve there was a short and sharp thunder storm that filled many low points with temporary standing water across the landscape so the birds visiting water troughs declined to near zero after that.

The following photos are a selection taken of five of the Honeyeater species – mostly at two of the hides on the first day. Several species of Emu Bushes (Eremophila species) were in flower and these also proved to be a honeyeater magnet though often they were dominated by Spiny-cheeked and White-fronted Honeyeaters.

Please click on photos to enlarge.

White-fronted Honeyeater

Yellow-plumed Honeyeater

Brown-headed Honeyeater

Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater

And to finish, the beautiful Striped Honeyeater.

The photo above shows the top of the Striped Honeyeater’s head showing the stripes on the crown, nape and face for which it is named. 

Gilbert’s Whistlers

The Gilbert’s Whistler can be sedentary or locally nomadic. They are somewhat uncommon and can be hard to find, though from my experience their call – which is often made in response to our presence – can be the best way to locate a bird. Their calls are similar to the rare Red-lored Whistler which we had no luck locating at Gluepot, however we managed to find a number of both male and female Gilbert’s Whistlers in various locations across Gluepot.

Here are two photos of a male Gilbert’s and one shot of a female.

Please click on photos to enlarge. 

The very plain female caught our attention when she gave alarm calls in response to a circling Brown Goshawk.

Australian Owlet-nightjar

The Australian Owlet-nightjar, being nocturnal and having large eyes for night vision, does look owl-like. However they are not related to owls at all and instead are more closely related to the swift family. They are widespread across Australia and are most often found by flushing or by seeing birds by day sunning themselves at tree hollow entrances.

Recently at Gluepot while searching unsuccessfully for Striated Grasswrens in mallee-spinifex habitat I flushed an Owlet-nightjar from close to the ground. The bird flew up into a nearby mallee where it perched and did not move while I slowly moved about to get some photos. Light on Owlet-nightjars can be a challenge for photos, especially to capture both eyes with eye-shine – hence my need to carefully/slowly move while the bird sat tight. The following are a selection of a few shots with cropped versions to better show the head and face detail – especially the eyes and rictal bristles. 

Please click on photos to enlarge.

Cropped version of above photo showing face detail.

Profile photo.

Cropped profile photos.

Looking at the photos later and seeing rather worn tail-tips and thinking about the bird’s behaviour, I suspect this bird flushed from a nest – it did not fly far and stayed put while I moved about. In mallee habitat there are very few nest hollows at height, they are in the bases of the trees, which often are very old and contain hollows.

Chestnut Quail-Thrush

All species of Quail-Thrush (1) are ground dwelling and share similar behaviour and general habitat preferences. They can be sedentary and nomadic and are usually uncommon so finding Quail-Thrush is mostly unexpected and always a delight. With longish legs and short wings they tend to walk away from perceived danger though they will flush and fly short distances with a characteristic whirring wing sound – their wings are not able to sustain prolonged long distance flight.

We recently found Chestnut Quail-Thrush in a few locations in Hattah-Kulkyne National Park south east of Mildura. As for all Q-T’s the Chestnut are a challenge to photograph as they move about on the ground in dense vegetation.

Please click on photos to enlarge.

Note the very short wings in the photo above – these wings are not for long range flights.

The chestnut band across the lower back shows this bird to be a male. Note the red eye in this and the next photo.

(1) The number of species of Quail-Thrush has changed in recent years. My old Morcombe guide shows four species however my most recent guide shows seven – see the Australian Bird Guide for the most recent/up to date species and their range/distribution maps. The subject of this post, the Chestnut Q-T, has been split into Chestnut Q-T (Cinclosoma castanotum) and the Copper-backed Q-T (Cinclosoma clarum). No doubt quite a few birders have picked up armchair ticks for some of the Q-T’s thanks to the work of taxonomists.

Mallee Emu-wren

Mallee Emu-wrens (Stipiturus mallee) were once found in the Murray Mallee both in Victoria and South Australia however wildfire in the SA mallee in recent years has wiped out the SA populations – the bird is now extinct in SA and now only found in Victoria. This sadly highlighted just how vulnerable Mallee Emu-wrens are to uncontrolled wildfires. They are now listed as endangered – the species is now facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild. 

In the past two years there has been a Mallee Emu-wren translocation project underway to re-establish populations in SA. Over two seasons a total of 80 birds were translocated to SA – time will tell how successful this effort has been. To learn more on the status of the Mallee Emu-wren and the translocation project Google Mallee Emu-wren where you will find lots of information including Youtube videos on the translocation project.

Mallee Emu-wrens associate strongly with long unburnt, that is large clumps, of porcupine grass (Triodia scariosa) – a species of spinifex. While Mallee Emu-wrens are vulnerable to fire they also depend on fire to maintain the habitat they have evolved to live in. The issue is the scale, severity and frequency of fire. 

We recently looked for Mallee Emu-wrens in the Hattah area and managed to find three male-female pairs in three locations – here are a few photos from two locations.

Please click on photos to enlarge.

My only photo of a female – they are far more reclusive than the males.

The frequency and severity of wildfire will continue to increase with global warming making protection of Mallee Emu-wrens very challenging into the future. Let’s hope this beautiful little bird has a future in the Murray Mallee.

Southern Scrub-Robin

The Southern Scrub-Robin (Drymodes brunneopygia) is a ground dwelling robin found, as the name suggests, in dense and mostly semi-arid scrub habitats. They are uncommon sedentary birds which can be hard to find. On a recent birding walk from the Ackle Bend campground in Little Desert National Park, we came across two Scrub-Robins (a pair most likely) in Desert Banksia (Banksia ornata). Loud calls from the low and dense banksias beside the path alerted us to the presence of a bird we could not place by the call. The bird soon revealed itself, and its identity, when it flew to the top of a dead wattle where we had good views. 

They are said to be inquisitive and this certainly appeared to be the case as a second bird appeared close by showing interest in us.

A few photos were possible before they returned to the ground to forage among the banksias. Photos of them on the ground were not possible as they hopped and ran between the banksias presenting only fleeting glimpses in the small spaces.

Please click on photos to enlarge. 

The bird in the photo above has sand on its bill indicating it has been probing in the soil for food.

Little Grassbirds

The following description of Little Grassbirds is borrowed – with modification by me – from Michael Morcombe’s excellent field guide. His description describes my experience with Little Grassbirds very well.

Secretive, skulking inhabitant of dense wetland vegetation. Usually allows only brief glimpses, then flutters away into dense concealing vegetation. The mournful three note call is often the only indication of the presence of Little Grassbirds.

So given this bird’s reputation it was a surprise to recently find a number of Little Grassbirds foraging out in the open at the Byron Wetlands in northern NSW. 

In the last few years the Byron Wetlands have been infested with Salvinia molesta, an invasive aquatic weed native to Brazil, which now forms dense floating mats over much of what was previously open water. There is no doubt the loss of open water has not favoured waterbirds which need that habitat. However the salvinia harbours many small insects which the Little grassbirds were able to exploit as the dense mat easily supported their weight.

Previous attempts to photograph this species captured a partially concealed small bird peering out from dense cover. By contrast the following photos were taken of birds foraging in the open with full sun at my back.  

Please click on photos to enlarge.

The long white brow is obvious in the above photo.

A few Comb-crested Jacanas were also foraging on the salvinia.

The Tawny Grassbird is also found at the Byron Wetlands. While larger the Tawny Grassbird shares many habitat and behaviour similarities with the Little Grassbirds. You can see a post here on the Tawny Grassbird: http://avithera.blogspot.com/2021/07/tawny-grassbird.html