Northern populationNorthern population

Northern population

The northern population has undergone a dramatic population decline and range contraction (e.g., Holmes 1989, 1998; Sandpiper Ecological Surveys 2000b, 2003, 2005a, 2008). Historically the distribution of the northern population extended much further south, to the Dorrigo Plateau and possibly to Wootton near the Myall Lakes (Chisholm 1958; Holmes 1982, 1989). Eastern Bristlebirds are presumed to be locally extinct from Conondale Ranges, Razorback Mountains, Mt Burrell, Big Scrub, Mt Richmond and the Dorrigo Plateau; in none of these areas have there been confirmed records for over a decade despite searching.

Northern Eastern Bristlebirds are now confined to the mountain ranges of south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales. In Queensland, they are currently known from one site near Mt Gipps on the Queensland/New South Wales border and possibly one at Mt Barney (DES 2018), though a long-term (minimum three-years) expanded survey program is needed to confirm current distribution (L Gould pers. comm. 2021). In New South Wales, they occur at several sites near Kyogle in the Border Ranges (NESP 2019). Fires in 2019–2020, initially thought to have burnt out some subpopulations, appear to have missed all with the exception of the possible

Mt Barney subpopulation (D Charley unpublished cited in Charley et al. 2021).

The extent of occurrence (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO) for the northern population are estimated at 140 km² (100–200 km²) and 20 km² (range 16–24 km²), respectively (Charley et al. 2021). Both the EOO and AOO have stable trends

(high reliability). The population is not considered to be highly fragmented (Charley et al. 2021).