The western rufous bristlebird (''Dasyornis broadbenti litoralis''), also known as the rufous bristlebird (western), the south-western rufous bristlebird or the lesser rufous bristle bird, is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

and little-known

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of the

rufous bristlebird The rufous bristlebird (''Dasyornis broadbenti'') is one of three Extant taxon, extant species of bristlebirds. It is Endemism, endemic to Australia where three subspecies have been described from coastal southwestern Western Australia, southeast ...

that was

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

History and status

The bristlebird was discovered on 12 October 1901 at

Ellensbrook Ellensbrook is a heritage-listed property in Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park in the locality of Yebble, Western Australia near Margaret River. Also known as Ellensbrook House or Ellensbrook Homestead, the property is managed by the National Tr ...

near the

Margaret River The Margaret River is a river in southwest Western Australia. In a small catchment, it is the eponym of the town and tourist region of Margaret River. The river arises from a catchment of just 40 square kilometres in the Whicher Range. The ...

Alexander William Milligan Alexander William Milligan (1858 – 30 March 1921) was an Australian accountant, legal clerk, zoological collector and ornithologist. Milligan was born at Sulky Gully, near Ballarat in Victoria. He was educated at Guildford, Victoria. In 1897 ...

. He shot an adult female, describing it the following year in ''The Emu'' as a new species, ''Sphenura litoralis''. It was last reliably recorded in 1908 when a specimen was again collected. Since then there have been some unconfirmed sightings, which are not considered to be accurate, and the taxon is listed as extinct under Australia's

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...

. The reason for its extinction is thought to be the destruction of its shrubland habitat which was repeatedly burnt in the early 20th century to create

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

Distribution and habitat

The bristlebird had a very restricted range, being found only in a stretch of coastal scrub about 50 km long between

Cape Naturaliste Cape Naturaliste is a headland in the south western region of Western Australia at the western edge of the Geographe Bay. It is the northernmost point of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge which was named after the cape. Also the Leeuwin-Naturaliste ...

and

Cape Mentelle Cape Mentelle is a limestone headland on the Indian Ocean coast of south-western Western Australia. It is within the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, just north of the mouth of the Margaret River and west of the town of Margaret River. It l ...

in south-western Australia. There it inhabited dense, stunted

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

on cliffs and dunes.

Description

The bristlebird was a thrush-like, largely terrestrial bird, with short, rounded wings, about 25–27 cm long. It had a rich rufous cap, extending to the ear-coverts, with an off-white face and a boldly scalloped, grey-white chin, throat and breast. It had a reddish-brown hindneck, back, uppertail and scapulars, becoming olive brown on the lower back and rump. It had brown upperwings and mainly grey underparts. Its bill was grey-black, paling to grey or pink on the lower mandible. It had red eyes and brown legs and feet.

Behaviour

Milligan wrote of the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

specimen:

”The bird was most difficult to flush or even see, and it was only in the afternoon of the second day’s pursuit that I obtained a momentary glimpse of it as it rushed across a kwagga (species of Wallaby) track in the scrub with its tail elevated. My next sight of it was on the fourth day of pursuit, just prior to shooting it, when my old Quail bitch disturbed it. Its motion on this occasion (perhaps due to its being severely pressed) was distinctly different from that observed on the former. Appearing, as it did, running at top speed across one of those beautifully rounded sand hills (which abound on the coasts), with its tail depressed below the plane of the body, and its dwarf rounded wings used as an aid to its running, its toes just touching the ground, and its neck stretched to the utmost, the bird reminded me very much of the action of the Lyre Bird in similar circumstances.”

Feeding

Milligan found that the stomach contents of his specimen consisted wholly of

land snail A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. ''Land snail'' is the common name for terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells (those without shells are known as ...

Voice

Milligan reported that the bristlebird had two distinct calls, an

alarm call In animal communication, an alarm signal is an antipredator adaptation in the form of signals emitted by social animals in response to danger. Many primates and birds have elaborate alarm calls for warning conspecifics of approaching predators ...

''pink-pink-pink'' and a series of clear thrush-like notes.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7988259

western rufous bristlebird The western rufous bristlebird (''Dasyornis broadbenti litoralis''), also known as the rufous bristlebird (western), the south-western rufous bristlebird or the lesser rufous bristle bird, is an extinct and little-known subspecies of the rufous b ...

† Bird extinctions since 1500

Extinct birds of Australia