The plains-wanderer is one of the world’s rarest birds. Now it may face a new threat from a large-scale poultry development.
The plains-wanderer is one of the world’s rarest birds, pushed to the edge of extinction by habitat loss, disturbance and predation.
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On the grasslands of the Patho Plains and around Terrick, the small, fawn-coloured bird is quietly holding on.
Now it faces a new threat, a proposed $561 million egg farming development by McLeans Farms in the heart of its already shrinking habitat.
The North Central Catchment Management Authority, alongside residents, has raised concerns about what the development could mean for the species’ survival.
North Central CMA chief executive officer Brad Drust said the risks could be significant.
“We are concerned the construction of large-scale poultry production facilities in close proximity to the known Victorian stronghold of the critically endangered plains-wanderer may pose a risk to that population and therefore impact the species,” he said.
The proposal would introduce up to 2.8 million poultry birds across three sites in the Torrumbarry area of the Patho Plains, locations that directly adjoin and surround a network of native grasslands managed for plains-wanderer conservation.
These include privately covenanted land, public reserves, and areas supported by past and current Federal Government investment, including the ‘Plains for Wanderers’ project.
Mr Drust said the development could bring new and compounding threats.
“Our concerns are the proposed development may increase the number of predators in the area and may increase the risk to plains-wanderers of the H5N1 disease and pathogens such as Aspergillosis and Mycobacterium that poultry farms are susceptible to and have a fatal prognosis in plains-wanderers,” he said.
The CMA has formally called for further scrutiny.
“We have requested a rigorous ecological and biosecurity assessment by recognised plains-wanderer experts.”
No bigger than a plover, the plains-wanderer is one of Australia’s most remarkable birds — a living relic whose lineage stretches back more than 60 million years.
Survival for this ancient species depends on a fragile balance.
Nicknamed the “Goldilocks bird,” it requires vegetation that is neither too sparse nor too dense.
The plains-wanderer is much-loved in northern Victoria, with some farmers dedicating murals to the threatened bird.
Photo by
Cath Grey
Even subtle changes to its grassland habitat can make it unsuitable.
Despite its name, the plains-wanderer does not wander far.
It tends to stay within familiar patches, a trait that makes it especially vulnerable when those areas are disturbed or destroyed.
Farming pressures, invasive weeds, and predators such as foxes and cats have already eroded much of the carefully structured grasslands the species depends on.
Once numbering in the hundreds across Victoria’s northern plains, populations have dropped sharply, with monitoring indicating steep declines in recent decades.
Today, the Patho Plains and Terrick regions are considered among the last strongholds for the species, making the health of these landscapes critical to its future.
Adding to its intrigue, the plains-wanderer turns the usual order of nature on its head.
Females are larger, more brightly coloured, and dominant, leaving males to incubate eggs and raise young while they move on to find new mates.
Across north-central Victoria, researchers and landholders continue working to protect the species through habitat management, predator control and monitoring programs.
For a bird that rarely flies far and depends so heavily on staying in one place, the stakes could not be higher.
On these plains, survival is a matter of getting everything... just right.
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