Short-tailed Grasswren is a recent split from Striated (Schodde & Mason 1999). It inhabits open spinfex-covered hills in the Flinders Range of South Australia. One such site is Stokes Hill (above; L to R: Bruce Wedderburn, Peter Waanders, Murray Lord). We arrived reasonably early in the morning, and a pair were seen at a distance foraging between clumps of spinifex (the short spiky clumps that cover this hillside). They disappeared as we approached. By standing still and playing the tape, we finally finally saw one grasswren running a bit closer (photo below), tail cocked high above its bright reddish back. We approached closer, and suddenly a bird darted from a close spinifex, moving much too fast to capture in the lens. When we moved closer still, it dashed out again, zig-zagged between us, and ran down a rabbit burrow! We waited but it never re-emerged. Seeking refuge in burrows "when pressed closely" is previously described for Striated and Thick-billed Grasswrens (Schodde 1982), but perhaps not for Short-tailed? However, given what we later encountered with Eyrean, perhaps it is a behavior present in all species?

Portion of painting (right) by Richard Weatherly from Schodde (1982)

Thick-billed Grasswren, of the short-tailed eastern race modestus, was found at this well-known gully with saltbush (Atriplex) understory near Lyndhurst (photo above). This species is widespread across the interior of Australia (and locally to the western coast) in shallow ravines with saltbrush or bluebush (Maireana) among arid, open stony plains. The distribution of the two subspecies is odd, however, and some suggest that they may actually represent two species.

We found a pair rather quickly late one afternoon, but they remained amazingly invisible most of the time as they led us on a merry chase up and down through this habitat. Later, while checking out a known Rufous Fieldwren site, we found another that was remarkably tame. It even ran towards us to hide under a little bush (below, both shots). I would have much better photos when it posed briefly in the open had I not bungled the camera settings. Nonetheless, the heavy thick bill and prominently streaked crown and cheeks is apparent even in these overexposed shots.

Portion of painting (right) by Richard Weatherly from Schodde (1982)

Eyrean Grasswren was for many years considered a lost, and possibly extinct, species. It was discovered in 1875 but nothing more was known for nearly a century. Observers from Victoria believed they saw some in 1961 in an unexpected habitat: dune cane grass on low sandhills, but a specimen was not collected to confirm the rediscovery under 1976 (Schodde 1982). Since then, though, as the great Simpson Desert has opened to travelers, Eyrean Grasswren has proved to be reasonably common on sand dunes with sufficient low vegetation (as shown in the photo above) throughout the gibber deserts.

We visited one dune (above) twice, and watched pairs both times. One time a bird disappeared below a bush, despite being 'surrounded' by us. On closer inspection we found little bird tracks disappearing into the mouth of a burrow. On another sand dune, I stalked a bird and got very close, but it was only in the open, running fast, for short periods and I just couldn't snap a photo. My lone shot of one in a bush shows only its belly and legs. Yet this was my favorite grasswren. I liked its colorful pattern and heavy bill, and really enjoyed the way they ran up and down the dunes — this wonderful grasswren epitomizes this remote and spectacular desert country.

Portion of painting (right) by Richard Weatherly from Schodde (1982)

Gray Grasswren, spelled "Grey Grasswren" in Britain and Australia, was the final grasswren to be discovered to science. It is also the oldest and most primitive of the grasswrens; it flies more often than other grasswrens; and is more like a fairywren in structure. The species exists only in a couple of usually dry flood plains that hold dense stands of lignum (Muehlenbeckia cunninghamii) and cane grass (Eragrostis australasica) of the inland flowing Diamantina and Bulloo rivers (Schodde 1982). Our birds were frustratingly elusive. Although males were seen briefly from the car in track-edge lignum, it was very hard to locate pairs or family groups among the dangled lignum and grass — usually the views were of birds in flight or quickly running away (photo above; a grasswren is running away, tail cocked, top center.

On our second visit to a site well up the Birdsville Track, I spent a lot of time stalking a bird that proved to be a fledgling Gray Grasswren (below). Schodde (1982) describes fledglings as "like adults but still duller and much fluffier, and having only the barest traces of dark chevrons on their faces. Brows are clear white but there is only a faint black line through the eye." The photographed bird had a much less prominent facial pattern than adults that were seen.

Portion of painting (right) by Richard Weatherly from Schodde (1982)