The Rufous Scrub-bird, an elusive creature with an ancient songbird lineage, is fighting for survival.
Conservation Status in NSW: Vulnerable
Commonwealth Status: Endangered
Deep within the cool, dense rainforests of eastern Australia lives the elusive Rufous Scrub-bird. Found only in isolated pockets of rainforest in north-eastern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland, this ancient songbird lineage has survived for millions of years. Today, scientists believe fewer than 2,000 birds remain in the wild.
Identification
The Rufous Scrub-bird is a small, stocky ground-dwelling bird, growing to around 17 centimetres long. It has reddish-brown (“rufous”) plumage, a pale throat, dark eyes and a long rounded tail. The word “rufous” comes from the Latin word for red, and is commonly used to describe animals with reddish-brown colouring.
Despite its fascinating history, it’s incredibly difficult to spot. Rufous Scrub-birds spend most of their time hidden amongst dense undergrowth, leaf litter and fallen logs in high-altitude rainforests, generally above 600 metres elevation.
What they lack in visibility, they make up for in sound. Male birds are known for their loud and complex songs, which echo through the rainforest and are often the only clue that one is nearby.
There are northern and southern subspecies of the Rufous Scrub-bird, each with slightly different calls and physical features. Both are extremely shy and spend much of their time foraging beneath dense vegetation.
Distribution, Habitat and Diet
Rufous Scrub-birds are endemic to south-eastern Australia and occur in isolated rainforest areas from the Barrington Tops to the Border Ranges. Locally, they can be found within parts of the Port Macquarie Hastings region, particularly on the Comboyne Plateau.
These birds rely on healthy rainforest ecosystems with deep leaf litter and thick vegetation, where they forage for insects, snails, worms and other small invertebrates.
Threats
Like many rainforest species, the Rufous Scrub-bird faces growing pressure from habitat loss, wildfire and changing climate conditions. Because populations are small, isolated and fragmented, large wildfire events pose a major risk to remaining populations. The Black Summer bushfires of 2019–2020 burnt through parts of their habitat, highlighting just how vulnerable the species has become.
Other threats include inappropriate forestry activities, disturbance to roadside vegetation, drought, and the long-term impacts of rising temperatures on cool rainforest habitats.
Conservation and DNA Research
Researchers have begun a specialised DNA sequencing project to better understand the genetic diversity between isolated Rufous Scrub-bird populations. This work could help guide future conservation actions, including potential captive breeding programs if wildfire risk continues to increase.
Researchers are carefully collecting DNA samples from different populations across NSW, including Barrington Tops and Werrikimbe, to understand whether birds from different regions could be bred together in the future to strengthen the species’ resilience.
How You Can Help
Protecting rainforest habitat is one of the best ways to support species like the Rufous Scrub-bird. Staying on marked tracks, respecting sensitive vegetation, supporting conservation efforts and helping reduce climate impacts all play a role in protecting these unique ecosystems, and the species that inhabit them, for the future.
References
Rufous Scrub-bird – profile | NSW Environment, Energy and Science
Rufous scrub-bird | Australian threatened animals | NSW National Parks
Rufous Scrub-bird — DIFFICULT BIRD RESEARCH GROUP
Rufous scrub-bird DNA project aims to safeguard ancient and elusive songbird – ABC News
Atrichornis rufescens rufescens — Rufous Scrub-bird (northern)
