White-bellied whip bird rediscovered in the Mallee

Researchers from La Trobe have rediscovered a bird long to be thought extinct in the Mallee.

Researchers from La Trobe University have rediscovered a bird long thought extinct in the Mallee.

While there has been a very small population of the white-bellied whip bird in South Australia, one hadn’t been seen in Victoria for nearly 40 years.

Lead researcher Dr Simon Verdon said his team was quite excited when they found one.

“[We] were very excited. I thought straight away it was the whip bird – but then I had to climb a hill to get a mobile signal and send off the audio for other experts to verify, which they did,” he said.

“To find that the white-bellied whipbird is not extinct in Victoria is amazing. It shows how resilient they are. There have been bad droughts and fires in this part of the world and they‘re still here.”

Researchers from La Trobe University have rediscovered the White-bellied whip bird, thought to be extinct in Victoria. Picture: Facebook

The bird was rediscovered as part of an 81-day field survey in the Big Desert Wilderness Park, two hours southwest of Mildura.

Dr Verdon said this showed how important it was for researchers to get out in the field.

“Computer-based work is a big part of my job and it is important when managing the environment, but we need to use this type of work to boost the impact of field studies, not replace them,” Dr Verdon said.

A volunteer from Bendigo, Lachy Wild, was the one who captured the iconic song of the bird.

The research project is part of the Mallee threatened birds project which is aiming to get a better understanding of some of the endangered bird species native to the Mallee.