The species was once widespread throughout the lowland native grasslands of coastal and subcoastal eastern Australia.
However, with the onset of widespread cultivation and agriculture, much of the Plains Wanderer's habitat has been lost and as a consequence its range has become more scattered throughout southeastern Australia and it's listed as critically endangered.
While the strongholds of these species are the Patho Plains of Victoria and the NSW Riverina region, South Australia holds claim to a small percentage of these birds in the northeastern corner of the state. Little is understood about this population and its movements are yet to be studied.
Over the past six months I've been working with Bush Heritage to better understand this South Australian population. I've been lucky enough to be working as one of the graduate interns for both Bush Heritage and Zoos SA. The basis of my project has been to assess the status and distribution of Plains Wanderers in South Australia, as well as study the fitness and behaviours of the captive population in Monarto Zoo, which is about an hour southeast of Adelaide.
In the past 20 years, Boolcoomatta Reserve, managed by Bush Heritage Australia on Adnyamathanha and Wilyakali country in the state’s northeast, has been one of the only sites in South Australia to provide somewhat consistent recordings of Plains Wanderers.
In this time there have been a total of 10 confirmed sightings through both targeted surveys and incidental sightings. Plains Wanderers are recorded in Boolcoomatta sporadically and it is hard to determine when and where they're present at the reserve. Not to mention that their markings, small size and habit of flattening themselves against the ground make them extremely difficult to spot.
With this in mind, we traveled to Boolcoomatta to try our luck at finding a Plains Wanderer. Adding further difficulty to our search, according to one of the lead Plains Wanderer experts- in the hotspots in Victoria, you can expect to search 30 minutes to 4 hours before you find a Plains Wanderer. At Boolcoomatta, you're looking at anywhere between 20 and 40 hours. Hopes were not high.
This trip we trialled the use of a thermal imaging camera as an alternative to spotlighting. This method has been successful in the eastern states and increases your chances of seeing warm, moving objects on difficult terrain. After four nights we had seen a stubble quail, inland dotterels, a black tailed native hen, a little button-quail and countless rocks that looked like Plains Wanderers.
On the last night, we piled into the car one last time. At this point we had spent up to 16 hours spotlighting and were far off the 40 hours deemed necessary to find one. At 1am after numerous false alarms, the thermal camera picked up something 20m from the car. A small little something that flushed into a nearby clump of vegetation.
Curious, we all got out to have a look and, sure enough, standing not too far away from us, was a male Plains Wanderer. I was so excited and shaking so badly I could hardly see through my binoculars! The distinctive markings and characteristics were undeniable.