Dasyornis broadbenti litoralis Milligan, 1902:69
South-western Rufous Bristle(-)bird, Lesser Bristle(-)bird
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Dasyornis broadbenti littoralis Milligan, 1902:69 (orthological error); Sphenura littoralis Milligan, 1902:69
Conservation Status
Extinct
Last record: 27 December 1906 (1940?)
IUCN RedList status: Extinct
Officially the last record of the species was in 1906. However, several post-1906 sightings have taken place, namely in March 1940 (Ludwig Glauert, The Fishing Place), December 1977, 1979, and January 1980 (Glauert, 1945; Serventy & Whittell 1976; Garnett 1992a; Chapman, 1999, 2005).
Distribution
Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge, Western Australia, Australia
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Museum Victoria has two specimens of the western race of the Rufous Bristlebird, both in the H. L. White collection:
[url=http://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/object.php?irn=447830&QueryPage=%2Femuintranet%2Fsearch.php]MV HLW 2731[/url] (skin; male)
[url=http://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/object.php?irn=447831&QueryPage=%2Femuintranet%2Fsearch.php]MV BE 03383[/url] (two eggs, identification disputed)
A pair of eggs in the H. L. White collection, Museum of Victoria, are labelled as those of the South-western Rufous Bristlebird. However (Burbidge, 2007) disputes this record, and argues that they probably came from the extant eastern race, [i]D. b. caryochrous[/i].
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Milligan, Alexander William. (1902). Description of a new Bristle Bird (Sphenura). Emu 1(2): 67-69.
Other references:
Ashby, Edwin. (1921). Notes on the supposed "extinct" birds of the south-west corner of Western Australia. Emu 20(3): 123-124.
BirdLife International 2009. Dasyornis broadbenti. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.1. (http://www.iucnredlist.org). Downloaded on 11 September 2011.
Blakers, M., S.J.J.F. Davies & P.N. Reilly. (1984). The Atlas of Australian Birds. Melbourne, Victoria: RAOU & Melbourne University Press.
Burbidge, Allan H. (2007). What was the Jardanup Bristlebird? [i]Records of the Western Australian Museum[/i] [b]24[/b]: 1-7.
Burbidge, Allan and Blyth, John. (2008). Threatened & Rare Birds of Western Australia, revised edition. Kensington: Department of Environment and Conservation.
Campbell, A. G. (1907). The Bristle-bird (Sphenura broadbenti). Emu 6:134-136.
Carter, Tom. (1924a). Birds of the Broome Hill District. Part 2. Emu 23(3): 223-235.
Carter, Tom. (1924b). Birds of the Broome Hill District. Emu 23: 306-318.
Chapman, Graeme. (1999). Bristlebirds: see how they run. Wingspan. 9(1): 8-15.
Chapman, Graeme. (2005). Gone Forever? Or Australia's Rarest Passerine? [accessed 2nd October, 2011]
Department of Environment and Conservation. (2009). South Coast Threatened Birds Recovery Plan 2009-2018. Western Australian Wildlife Management Program No. 44. 32 pp. [automatic download]
Department of Parks and Wildlife. (2014). South Coast Threatened Birds Recovery Plan. Perth, Western Australia: Department of Parks and Wildlife.
Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. (2011). Dasyornis broadbenti litoralis in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Canberra. Available from: http://www.environment.gov.au/sprat. Accessed Sun, 2 Oct 2011 18:39:41 +1100.
Garnett, Stephen. (1992a). The Action Plan for Australia Birds, Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, Canberra.
Garnett, Stephen (ed.). (1992b). Threatened and Extinct Birds of Australia. RAOU Report Number 82. 212 pp.
Garnett, S. T. and Crowley, G. M. (2000). The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000. Canberra, ACT: Environment Australia & Birds Australia.
Glauert, L. (1945). Bristle-birds in Western Australia. Emu 44: 334.
Johnstone, R. E. (2001). Checklist of the birds of Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 63: 75-90.
Johnstone, R. E. and Darnell, J. C. (2015). Checklist of the Birds of Western Australia. Updated version of (Johnstone, 2001).
Knox, Alan G. and Walters, Michael P. (1994). Extinct and endangered birds in the collections of The Natural History Museum. British Ornithologists' Club Occasional Publications 1: 1-292. [pp. 217-218]
Mathews, Gregory M. (1924). The Birds of Australia, suppl. No. 3: Check List of the Birds of Australia: Order Passeriformes (concluding part). London: Witherby & Co.
Schodde, R. and Mason, I. J. 1999. The Directory of Australian Birds: Passerines. CSIRO, Collingwood, Victoria.
Serventy, D. L. and Whittell, H. M. (1976). Birds of Western Australia. Nedlands, Western Australia: UWA Press. [1967?]
Smith, G. T. (1977). The effect of environmental change on six rare birds. Emu 77: 173-179.
Storr, G. M. (1991). Birds of the South-west Division of Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 35: 1-150.
G.P. Whitley 1971, West. Aust. Nat. 12: 44
Whittell, H. M. (1935). The Bristle-birds of Western Australia. Emu 35: 197-201.
Whittle, H. M. and Serventy, D. L. (1948). A Systematic List of the Birds of Western Australia. Perth: Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery of Western Australia, Special Publication no. 1, 126 pp.
Woinarski, John C. Z., Legge, Sarah M. and Garnett, Stephen T. (2024). Extinct Australian birds: numbers, characteristics, lessons and prospects. Emu 124(1): 8-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/01584197.2023.2240345