• 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
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Near Threatened	C2a(i)
2016	Near Threatened	B2ab(ii,iii,v)
2012	Near Threatened	B2ab(ii,iii,v)
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2006	Least Concern
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	22 g

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	58,200 km2
Number of locations	20-100	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	4000-6000, 5000 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2020
Population trend	decreasing	-	inferred	-
Generation length	2.96 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	5	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: There were estimated to be about 5,000 A. m. merrotsyi in 2004 (Carpenter 2004) but the habitat of what was the largest subpopulation, around Stokes Hill in the south-east of Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park, may no longer support 1,000 pairs (Carpenter 2004) because it has been degraded and there has been a significant reduction in the number of sightings in this area (Black and Gower 2017, A. B. Black in litt. 2021). Consequently, this subpopulation may now approach c.1,000 mature individuals in total (Carpenter et al. 2021a) and is placed in the range 1,001-1,500 mature individuals. Another 3,000 mature individuals are assumed to be spread among the other three subpopulations (Carpenter 2004). The population of A. m. pedleri was estimated in 2009 to be 300 birds at Paney Station in Gawler Ranges National Park, 200 each at Mt Ive Station and Hiltaba Nature Reserve and 50 at each of the four less important sites (G. Carpenter, A. B. Black unpublished, in Carpenter et al. 2021b) and is thought to be little changed. The global population size is therefore best estimated at c. 5,000 mature individuals, placed here in the range 4,000-6,000.

Trend justification:

Trends of A. m. merrotsyi are highly uncertain as there have been no recent surveys, but birdwatchers have been unable to find any at many former locations (G. Carpenter unpublished, in Carpenter et al. 2021a). The population of A. m. pedleri is thought to be stable, although the subspecies is thought to comprise less than 20% of the total population. In 2005, A. m. pedleri occurred at 19/51 sites surveyed on Hiltaba and Kolendo Stations; in 2017, despite very dry conditions, they were present at 20/57 sites, of which 40% were on Hiltaba. Even though they were absent from 11 previously occupied sites in an area of about 100 km² on Gawler Ranges National Park that was burnt in 2011, they were expected to return given the recovery of vegetation (SA AL NRMB 2018). Overall, a continuing decline in mature individuals is inferred based on evidence of the ongoing threats to the species and the lack of sightings at sites where the species has previously occurred (Carpenter et al. 2021a).

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Australia	Flinders Ranges
Australia	Gammon Ranges and Arkaroola
Australia	Gawler Ranges

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Grassland	Temperate	major	resident
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		major	resident
Savanna	Dry	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Temperate	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 890 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Droughts	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Temperature extremes	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Capra hircus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Oryctolagus cuniculus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Vulpes vulpes	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Osphranter robustus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
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

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Short-tailed Grasswren Amytornis merrotsyi. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/short-tailed-grasswren-amytornis-merrotsyi on 23/12/2024.
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 23/12/2024.