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Rostratula australis
The Australian Painted Snipe is a poorly known wader inhabiting inland wetlands. Although it has traditionally been considered a race of the Greater Painted Snipe of Africa and Asia, recent studies of morphology and DNA indicate that is should be regarded as a full species. The Australian Painted Snipe has been treated as a full species in the next Australian bird checklist by Christidis & Boles.
Australian Painted Snipe differ morphologically from the Painted Snipe of Africa and Asia in that they are longer winged with proportionately shorter bill and legs. They also differ in several distinctive plumage features. Most noticeably, in adult females the head, neck and upper breast are rich chocolate brown in Australia, and rufous in Africa and Asia. Vocalisations are also thought to differ considerably.
Little is known of the ecology, habitat requirements and reproductive biology of Australian Painted Snipe. They feed in shallow water or at the waters' edge and on mudflats, taking seeds and invertebrates such as insects, worms, molluscs and crustaceans. Females, which are larger and more brightly coloured than males, are thought to sometimes be polyandrous, mating with several males and leaving each one to incubate and raise chicks. They lay 3-4 eggs per clutch and incubation lasts about 15-16 days.
Most records of Australian Painted Snipe are from temporary or infrequently filled freshwater wetlands and although they have occurred at many sites, no site can be identified in which they are resident or regular in occurrence. This may suggest the species is nomadic but the extent to which its cryptic behaviour may contribute to this belief is uncertain. The birds are able to remain hidden in rank vegetation, but many reports are of birds not being secretive, but rather still and unobtrusive.
Most records are from south-eastern South Australia, the Riverina of Victoria and New South Wales, the northern NSW river basins west of the Great Divide, the Queensland Channel Country, south-east Queensland and the Fitzroy Basin of central Queensland. There are sporadic reports from northern Western Australia, inland Northern Territory and inland and sub-coastal North Queensland. More than 90% of records are received from August to March and it is unknown where the birds go in late autumn and winter.
Its rarity and perceived decline is of concern and its conservation status is nationally vulnerable, though with a population estimate as low as 1,500 birds, a strong case can be made for upgrading the status to endangered. The species has suffered primarily from wetland drainage and the diversion of water from rivers, so that many shallow wetlands never form. Major water resource developments in the northern Murray-Darling Basin from the 1960s-1990s coincided with a significant decline in number of observations. Nest predation by introduced mammals, and over-grazing of shallow swamps could also have played a role in the population decline.
The Australian Painted Snipe is listed as vulnerable under the EPBC Act. |
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Downloads
 Painted Snipe survey form (16 kb)
Painted Snippets newsletter (388 kb)
Lew Oring report (32 kb)
Terry Pacey report (36 kb)
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Conservation 
