Rufous Scrub-bird
Atrichornis rufescens
Family Atrichornithidae
Endangered (IUCN)
About
A secretive, ground-dwelling songbird endemic to isolated pockets of rainforest and wet eucalypt forest in north-eastern NSW and south-eastern Queensland. Population estimated at 1,850–2,960 mature birds, with the Border Ranges/Lamington Plateau area holding the largest subpopulations.
How to spot it
Almost never seen — listen instead for its extremely loud, mimicking call from dense leaf litter above 600m elevation. Brown plumage with a rufous breast and lightly barred back; males have a white streak on the neck that females lack.
Found in
- Nightcap National Park
- Gibraltar Range National Park
Joshua Bergmark (Ornis Birding Expeditions), CC BY 4.0