Chestnut-breasted Whiteface

Chestnut-breasted Whiteface
Chestnut-breasted Whiteface
Front view, showing white face and chestnut breast. Strzelecki Track, South Australia
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Pardalotidae
Genus: Aphelocephala
Species: A. pectoralis
Binomial name
Aphelocephala pectoralis
(Gould, 1871)

The Chestnut-breasted Whiteface (Aphelocephala pectoralis) is a species of bird in the Pardalotidae family. It is endemic to Australia and found primarily in northern South Australia.

Habitat

The species's preferred habitat is open terrain in hilly areas such as tablelands, with a stony landscape and a patchy cover of perennial chenopod shrubs. The species is most frequently seen in areas where the topographic relief gives rise to creek lines, in which there tends to be denser shrubby vegetation. It feeds on the ground and takes seeds and arthropods. It is threatened by habitat loss. Bulgunnia Station in the North West region of the state is a stronghold for the species and has been classified as an Important Bird Area.

Threats

Grazing by livestock and rabbits is the primary long-term threat as it reduces the recruitment of perennial shrubs, particularly low bluebush Maireana astrotricha, upon which the species depends. Heavy grazing of the chenopod shrubland has almost certainly caused the species to vacate previously used sites. Ironically, a recent reduction in rabbit numbers may have allowed a sufficient build up of fuel for fire to be a threat, particularly if occurring over a large area simultaneously. Some patches of habitat are threatened by opal mining. There has been a large increase in mining activity in South Australia in recent years, some of which is known to have directly impacted areas that have supported relatively high densities of the species

References


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