Information about Tasmanian Native Hen

Tasmanian Native-hen
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Gruiformes Family: Rallidae Genus: Gallinula Species: G. mortierii
Binomial name
Gallinula mortierii

The Tasmanian Native-hen (Gallinula mortierii) is a flightless water hen, one of twelve species of birds endemic to Tasmania. Many flightless birds have a sad history of extinction at the hands of man. The Tasmanian Native-hen has actually benefited from the introduction of European style agricultural practices in Tasmania (Ridpath: 1964).

Nomenclature

Other common names include Narkie, Native-hen and Waterhen. This species was originally described in 1840 as Tribonyx mortierii. The name mortierii is in honour of Bartholomé Charles J. Comte Dumortier (Marchant and Higgins: 1993)

Description

The Tasmanian Native-hen is a stocky flightless bird between 43 and 51 cm in length. The upperparts are olive brown with a white patch on the flank. The underparts are darker with a bluish grey tinge. The short tail is close to black and mostly held erect.The legs are thick and powerful, with a grey scaly appearance and sharp claws. The eye is bright red. The bill has a small frontal shield and is a greenish yellow colour(Watts:1999). The juvenile bird is similar in appearance to the adult, but the colours are more subdued on the body and the underparts have fine white spots. The bill is dusky grey and the eyes are brown (Marchant and Higgins: 1993).

Male birds generally have longer bills and legs, though there is enough overlap that means the sexes are indistinguishable, even in the hand (Ridpath:1964).

Habitat and distribution

The Tasmanian Native-hen is a sedentary species, living around open grassy areas close to water. It is widespread in Tasmania apart from the west and south west regions. It is not found on King or Flinders Islands in Bass Strait (Thomas: 1979), though Michael Sharland (1958) does record it as being on Flinders Island . A population introduced to Maria Island is now well established. It is generally common and easily seen around bodies of water that have grassy verges. Fossil records indicate that the Tasmanian Native-hen was found on the Australian mainland until around 4700 years ago. Suggested reasons for its extinction there have included the introduction of the dingo (Marchant and Higgins: 1993),or an extremely dry period (Ford: 1989).

Behaviour and Social organisation

The Tasmanian Native-hen's social organisation has been extensively studied. Tasmanian Native-hens live in groups of between two and five, plus the young birds from the previous breeding season, which tend to stay with the group until they move off to establish their own territories after approximately one year. The sedentary nature of the species means that groups hold sharply defined territories of up to five acres, and repel transgression into their territory vigorously with calls and displays. Fights can also occur, where birds will jump, peck and kick at each other violently, sometimes drawing blood and pulling feathers (Ridpath: 1964).

The breeding structure may be monogamous or polygamous, usually polyandrous.Each group contains a single breeding female who will mate with all the males of the group (Marchant and Higgins: 1993). The unusual social structure based on groups who stay together is not known to occur in many other species, the high ratio of male chicks to female chicks hatched is thought to be a possible explanation for this (Ridpath: 1964).

The Tasmanian Native-hen has 14 separate calls, ranging from low grunts to high pitched alarm calls as well as a see-sawing duet performed in unison, rising to a crescendo of harsh screeching notes (Marchant & Higgins: 1993).

Although flightless, it is capable of running quickly and has been recorded running at speeds up to 30 miles per hour (approx 48 kilometres per hour)(Sharland: 1958).

Breeding

The breeding season begins in the period from July to September, depending upon rainfall and the availability of food.Birds will usually breed once per year, however in good years, with high availability of food, two broods may be produced (Sharland: 1958, Ridpath: 1964). The nest is a rough , flattened grass mattress, among taller grasses and is usually built close to water, or on damp ground. The eggs measure approximately 56mm x 38mm and are a dull yellow to brown with some spotting of reddish brown and lavender (Beruldsen: 2003). As well as the primary nest, nursery nests are constructed with the purpose of roosting with chicks at night and as hiding places in case of predators (Ridpath: 1964). Chicks are covered in a dark brown fluffy down.

Diet

The diet of the Tasmanian Native-hen is mostly made up of grass shoots and the leaves of low herbs which it grazes during daylight hours (Ridpath: 1964). Birds will also eat insects, seeds and orchard fruit (Marchant & Higgins: 1993). The species has a reputation among farmers as an agricultural pest.The damage to agriculture was extensively studied in the 1960's by M Ridpath and G Meldrum, who found that although there is some damage to crops, rabbits were responsible for more damage. Many beliefs held by farmers about damage to crops were found to be unlikely, with damage probably caused by other species (Ridpath & Meldrum: 1968).

The Tasmanian Native-hen is a secondary grazer, meaning that it depends on other species to keep grass swards low and with fresh shoots. Before European settlement in Tasmania, the cleared spaces required for feeding would probably have been provided by Indigenous burning of grasslands to provide feeding grounds for mammals, which would be hunted for food. The expansion of these cleared grassy areas, and the introduction of rabbits has provided greater food sources and consequently greater numbers of the species within its range (Ridpath: 1964).

Conservation status and threats

The Tasmanian Native-hen is currently classified as a species of least concern by the IUCN. Although there is a healthy population size and no significant falls have been measured, there is concern about the recent introduction of the red fox to Tasmania and the possible impact that this will have on this and other species(IUCN:2006).

Of concern is the fact that the Tasmanian Native-hen is one of only four native birds that have no legal protection outside national parks and other reserves in the state of Tasmania - the only one of Tasmania's 12 endemic bird species with this dubious status. The other three unprotected species are the Forest Raven, the Great Cormorant and the Little Pied Cormorant. All other native Tasmanian birds are listed as protected under the state's Nature Conservation Act 2002.

References

• Beruldsen, G. 2003. Australian Birds their nests and eggs. Kenmore Hills (QLD) G. Beruldsen.
• Ford, H.A.1989. Ecology of Birds: An Australian perspective. Chipping Norton: Surrey Beattie and Sons..
• IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 20 April 2007.
• Marchant, S. and Higgins, P.J.(Eds). 1993. Handbook of Australian and, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 2: Raptors to Lapwings. Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
• Ridpath, M.G. and Meldrum G.K. 1968. Damage done to pastures by the Tasmanian Native hen, Tribonyx mortierii, in CSIRO Wildlife Research, 1968, 13, 11-24.
• Ridpath, M.G. 1964. The Tasmanian Native Hen.Hobart: CSIRO, Division of Wildlife Research.
• Sharland, M. 1958. Tasmanian Birds: a field guide to the birds inhabiting Tasmania and adjacent islands, including the sea birds. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
• Thomas, D. 1979. Tasmanian Bird Atlas. Hobart: University of Tasmania.
• Watts, D. 1999. Field guide to Tasmania Birds. Sydney: New Holland.

External links

Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife service: Tasmanian Native-hen information

National Library of Australia; scanned images from Gould's birds of Australia

IUCN Red list details of the Tasmanian Native-hen

University of Tasmania Zoology Department species notes