• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
Christidis, L. and Boles, W.E. 2008. Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
C2a(ii)	C2a(i,ii); D	C2a(i,ii); D1

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	45,000 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	220-12000, 9000-9999 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2020
Population trend	decreasing	poor	inferred	-
Generation length	3.05 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: Assuming breeding territories of an area of 2 km² (Harrington et al. 2017), the population of A. ballarae is estimated at 220–11,000 mature individuals based on a density estimate of one mature individual per 1 km². The upper limit of the population size is based on the area of good habitat within the EOO, the lower limit by the number of 2x2 km squares in which the species has been recorded since 1990, although some of these are no longer occupied (Stoetzel et al. 2021). The former value is considered to be more accurate since large areas of this species’ range have not been surveyed, although it is highly unlikely 100% of this area is occupied; the best estimate is consequently placed at 9,000-9,999 mature individuals.

Trend justification:

All data from Stoetzel et al. (2021). In the north of the species’ range, where monitoring has been regular, the proportion of successful surveys has declined from 13%–32% in 2008–2009 to 3%–6% in 2017–2019, probably related to severe fires in 2011–2012 because the proportion of successful surveys in 2013 was 1.4%. Of the 38 monitored sites with birds present in 2008–2009, the species has been recorded at only 13 since 2013. Severe fires in 2011–2012 appears to have caused a 13% contraction in EOO from the north since 2008–2009. Although there have been few late-season fires since, extreme fire weather driven by longer and more severe droughts mean this species is projected to decline further in the future.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Australia	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Australia	Buckley River

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		major	resident
Altitude	100 - 551 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Energy production & mining	Mining & quarrying	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression - Increase in fire frequency/intensity	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Species mortality

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Kalkadoon Grasswren Amytornis ballarae. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/kalkadoon-grasswren-amytornis-ballarae on 19/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 19/12/2024.