Threats to birds

Climate change is one of the most publicised conservation issues of our time. It is occurring on a global scale. In some areas the climate will become wetter, while others will be plunged into drought, and bouts of severe weather are likely to occur more often. The effects will be profound in almost every region, though different species will be affected in different ways. In northern Queensland, for example, the Fernwren, which lives in the moist montane forests, will be adversely affected as the moisture-laden clouds which characterise these forests rises to ever higher altitudes, eventually occurring above the level of the mountains. When the mists no longer shroud the forests, the habitat will die, and so will its inhabitants. In the lowlands, the destructive forces of increased tropical cyclonic activity will destroy ever greater tracts of lowland rainforest necessary for the survival of the Southern Cassowary.
Further south, as alpine areas retreat, what will happen to the species which rely on this habitat? At least some species that inhabit temperate areas in the grip of severe drought seem certain to be lost, just as drought doomed the Paradise Parrot to extinction early in the 20th century. Birds which nest on beaches, such as the Little Tern and Hooded Plover, will be adversely affected by rising sea levels, as will other species which live in low-lying coastal areas, such as the Capricorn subspecies of the Yellow Chat. Rising sea levels may also cause increased erosion of mudflats currently used as foraging grounds by vast flocks of waders. Melting of the pack-ice can only be detrimental to the birds which live in Antarctica.

There are many other aspects of climate change that we simply don't understand, and we can only hope to grasp their implications through increased levels of monitoring. Climate change may cause the timing of breeding by some species to change, and the expansion of the ranges of some species and the contraction of others. Behaviour may even be affected, such as changed timing or destinations of migrations. The implications are potentially endless, and BirdLife Australia is at the forefront of monitoring populations of birds throughout Australia to try to gauge the effects of the change in climate. This topic is the subject of the 2007 edition of The State of Australia's Birds Report.

Many coastal habitats, especially saltmarsh, are often looked upon as 'wasteland' and are often bulldozed to make way for industrial developments or, more recently, housing estates. One of the reasons that this species is endangered is the loss of habitat on mainland Australia, especially areas of coastal saltmarsh, where it spends winter. Since BirdLife Australia began monitoring the wintering population of Orange-bellied Parrots of south-eastern Australia in the mid-1980s we have realised how important saltmarsh is to a whole range of different species.

Some species of birds are highly susceptible to disturbance by people and their activities, and others are not so sensitive. For example, at one end of the scale is the Crested Shrike-tit. This striking and distinctive bird builds its deep, woven cup-shaped nest high in the outer foliage of eucalypts and other trees, but will readily desert the nest completely if disturbed by people coming too near, including birdwatchers. If this occurs late in the breeding season, the birds may not attempt to breed until the following breeding season. As the species is widespread in south-eastern Australia, this may not sound especially serious, but in areas such as northern and south-western Australia, and in the Mount Lofty Ranges of South Australia, where the species is threatened, any disruption to its breeding could have serious ramifications.

Similarly, Hooded Plovers are easily disturbed from their nests. As this species nests in shallow scrapes on sandy ocean beaches, it is often disturbed by sunbathers or people walking along the beach (with or without dogs). When disturbed, nesting or brooding Hooded Plovers leave their nest or young unattended, usually until long after the source of disturbance has left. This leaves the eggs or chicks vulnerable to all sorts of threats, including extremes of temperature (without the adults present to regulate the temperature of eggs or chicks by shading or warming them), being stepped on by unwary people or their dogs, and predation by gulls or crows. This is a very serious issue, as a low survival rate of young Hooded Plovers makes this an endangered species, especially as increasingly popular recreational use of ocean beaches mainly coincides with their breeding season. BirdLife Australia is currently conducting a project to monitor the effects of disturbance of beach-nesting shorebirds in southern Australia.

Not all birds, however, are as susceptible to disturbance. For example, Red Wattlebirds often build their nests in shrubs near sites of human activities, such as gardens and in parks, readily tolerate people walking to within a metre or two of the nest, and may scold the visitor before quickly returning to the nest.

Many of Australia's rivers are highly regulated, especially in the Murray-Darling Basin, with huge amounts of water stored in various weirs and the like, to be extracted for irrigation and other purposes. As a result, the water-flow regimes in these rivers have changed so that less water flows along them and it does so with the timing reversed, so that most water now flows in summer, when it is needed by agriculture, rather than when it would naturally flow in winter and spring. This has a detrimental effect along the course of the rivers. Many wetlands are now almost never filled, leading to loss of biodiversity.

Environmental flows are managed changes to the pattern of the river flow, intended to either improve or at least maintain the health of a river. By providing extra water in the form of environmental flows, it is possible to protect these rivers and their ecosystems from further deterioration, and they are vital for populations of waterbirds and other birds which live near the rivers. Environmental flows reinvigorate the rivers' aquatic ecosystems, stimulating eucalypts to flower and waterbirds to breed. To be successful, an environmental flow must be provided when it is able to initiate the breeding of plants and animals downstream, and it needs to be big enough to flood wetlands associated with the river. These are especially important in times of drought, as the rivers are important resources, not just to farmers and townsfolk, but also to the wildlife which relies on them to survive.

Fires are a natural and integral part of the Australian landscape. For many thousands of years, bushfires have determined the extent and types of different habitats, and therefore the distribution of different species of birds as well. However, since European settlement, the pattern of burning has changed. Bushfires are now more frequent and usually more extensive than before. This change in burning regimes has resulted in various conservation issues which directly affect our birdlife.

Apart from killing birds directly, the main effect of bushfires is to modify the habitats in which birds live. In many areas, the first plants to regrow after a bushfire are environmental weeds, which may choke out the seedlings of other plants and eventually form monocultures. The weeds may dominate to such an extent that there is little or no diversity- in terms of types of plants and the structure of the vegetation - and most species of birds usually require diversity in their habitats. For example, populations of the Crimson Finch are probably in decline, at least in part because of the effects of fires. In the Dry Season, much of northern Australia is burnt extensively, and this has allowed the exotic Gamba Grass to proliferate at the expense of native grasses. As a result, the natural sequence of seeding of native grasses is altered, adversely affecting the Crimson Finches which rely on seeds for their food, and usually eat different types of seeds at different times of the year. Natural fires burn in a mosaic pattern and this allows patches of grass of different ages and types to survive.

Some birds have very strict requirements when it comes to the habitats they live in. For example, Australia has three different species of bristlebirds which inhabit dense, fire-prone scrubland. After an area is burnt, it will not be recolonised by bristlebirds until the vegetation has regrown to a point where it offers sufficient cover. If bushfires are too frequent, the habitat is uninhabitable for bristlebirds as it offers too little cover, and the Western Australian subspecies of the Rufous Bristlebird became extinct after its habitat was burnt too often. However, if burning is too infrequent, the vegetation may become too dense for bristlebirds, and the Eastern Bristlebird, for example, requires a very specific burning regime for its wellbeing.

It seems obvious that managing bushfires is important for the conservation of many different species. Fire management in south-western Australia has allowed populations of the Noisy Scrub-bird, which was previously thought to have become extinct, to expand its population at Two Peoples Bay.

The lives of all birds are inextricably linked to the habitat in which they live, as it determines the availability of their food and shelter. Almost every type of natural habitat you can think of is threatened by clearance, fragmentation or other modification somewhere or other in Australia. This is the major conservation issue confronting our birds.

Entire landscapes are seldom completely cleared these days, but in the past, vast swathes of forest and woodland were felled. Now, when clearing occurs there are often small patches of habitat left. Thus, where a habitat was once continuous, it is now divided into smaller fragments, which are separated by other, different habitats. This has all sorts of implications. Some species, such as forest owls like the Sooty Owl, require large areas of forest to hunt in. If the area of forest remaining is too small, the owls are simply unable to catch enough food, and die. When fragments of habitat are widely separated by very different habitats, such as patches of woodland separated by large areas of bare paddocks, movement between the patches is often difficult if there are no connecting corridors of vegetation. This situation is referred to as the 'island effect', as the birds living in one patch are as isolated from other patches as they would be if they lived on an island. For example, Rufous Bristlebirds living in a patch of dense vegetation near Port Campbell were apparently unable to move to another nearby patch of suitable habitat a few hundred metres away, as the patches were separated by an area of open farmland which they could not cross. This situation precludes the colonisation of new areas of habitat, or the recolonisation of previously inhabited patches if something happened to the existing population, such as burning of the vegetation.

In some areas, the clearance of the vegetation may not be complete, and may only refer to the removal of the shrubs of the understorey, or even fallen timber. Such habitats are uninhabitable for many woodland species, such as the Grey-crowned Babbler and Hooded Robin, both of which are threatened by these processes in southern Australia.

A few species are favoured by the fragmentation of habitats. Fragmentation increases the area of edge of the habitat, and aggressive birds such as the Noisy Miner thrive in these landscapes as they are able to vigorously defend a territory against other small birds, driving them away. Fragmented habitats that support Noisy Miners usually support few other species.

Animals

There are a surprising number of Australian bird species that rely on hollows for nesting sites. Cockatoos only nest in tree-hollows, and most other species of parrots do too; so do most owls. In many regions there is a shortage of available hollows suitable for building nests in. In some areas these shortages are the result of clearing. Hollows only form in the trunks or branches of old trees. Introduced or feral species are at the heart of several different conservation issues. Some are active predators of native wildlife. Black Rats, which were accidentally introduced onto Lord Howe Island in 1918, for example, caused havoc by preying upon many species of birds which were previously common on the island, and directly caused the extinction of at least half a dozen species within two years. Foxes and cats are also species introduced to Australia which take a great toll on our native birds. Cats are widespread in all habitats throughout the country, and were even reputed to have reached Uluru (Ayers Rock) long before white men did. They kill untold numbers of birds every year, and have been recorded taking at least 212 species of birds, as well as many small mammals, reptiles and amphibians. Foxes, too, are voracious predators of native wildlife. They have even been recorded digging out the nesting burrows of birds such as Spotted Pardalotes and White-backed Swallows to eat their eggs or young.

Other invasive species compete directly with native birds, either for food or nesting sites. Large flocks of introduced European Goldfinches and European Greenfinches are often seen feeding on the seeds of low saltmarsh plants in south-eastern coastal mainland Australia, in competition with endangered Orange-bellied Parrots. Competition for nesting sites is one of the major problems posed by many introduced invasive species. In many areas of eastern Australia, introduced Common Starlings and Common Mynas have proliferated and expanded their range since they were introduced from Europe and Asia in the 19th century. They actively and aggressively compete with native species for nesting hollows, sometimes even building their nests on top of eggs or nestlings of other birds. Exotic species do not necessarily have to come from overseas. Laughing Kookaburras were introduced into Western Australia in 1896 and Tasmania in the early 20th century, and now successfully compete with native hollow-nesting species, as well as preying on native wildlife. Competitors for nesting hollows are not always birds, either. Feral honeybees are increasingly seen as serious competitors for spouts and other hollows suitable for breeding by parrots.

Other invasive species simply ruin the habitats used by other species. In the Northern Territory, introduced Water Buffalo caused tremendous damage to waterholes by trampling the surrounding vegetation and reducing the wetlands to muddy wallows, unsuitable for use by most other animals, especially waterbirds. Feral pigs may have the same effect in other parts of Australia.

Weeds

The presence of weeds in the environment may pose various threats to Australia's birds. If left unchecked, some weeds may grow so prolifically that they choke habitats, making them uninhabitable for our birdlife. The invasive Water Hyacinth is an exotic floating waterweed from South America which chokes many wetlands in New South Wales and Queensland. Its shiny green leaves grow so densely on the water's surface that they prevent sunlight from reaching submerged aquatic plants, adversely affecting aquatic invertebrates and fish (important food items of many waterbirds) and the dense foliage and the tangle of submerged stems make it physically impossible for most waterbirds to inhabit any infested wetland.

African Boneseed, an introduced shrub with prolific yellow flowers, grows so densely that in some areas it dominates the understorey of woodlands, and forms a nearly impenetrable cover in previously open areas. This mass of vegetation is readily inhabited by some of the more common species which require shrub cover, such as Brown Thornbills, but some threatened woodland species, such as the Diamond Firetail, are directly affected by the loss of areas of open understorey. BirdLife Australia has been actively removing Boneseed from a heavily infested area of the You Yangs, south-west of Melbourne, since the early 1990s.

The saltmarsh of Lake Connewarre, a wetland in the lower reaches of the Barwon River in southern Victoria, was formerly a major wintering area of the Orange-bellied Parrot, particularly soon after the birds' arrival on the mainland after crossing Bass Strait. In recent years, however, the number of Parrots recorded at Lake Connewarre has declined dramatically, coinciding with the rapid spread of the native grass Australian Salt-grass, great hummocks of which have smothered the saltmarsh in which the Parrots forage. The swamping effect of invasive weeds is also felt on our offshore islands. Nesting burrows of the Flesh-footed Shearwater on Lord Howe Island are often blocked by excessive growth of Kikuyu grass, which reduces the number of burrows available to the birds.

Clearly, the removal of such invasive weeds should be an important part of the conservation of a wide range of birds. But the manner in which it is done is equally important. For example, in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia, attempts to eradicate the agricultural weed Double Gee or Spiny Emex by using herbicides has poisoned remnant roadside patches of native vegetation which support Carnaby's Black-Cockatoos.

There are a surprising number of Australian bird species that rely on hollows for nesting sites. Cockatoos only nest in tree-hollows, and most other species of parrots do too; so do most owls. In many regions there is a shortage of available hollows suitable for building nests in. In some areas these shortages are the result of clearing. Hollows only form in the trunks or branches of old trees. When forests or woodlands are cleared, or even when they are selectively logged, the oldest and largest trees are usually the first to go. This immediately robs hollow-nesting species of nest sites; in the case of the Powerful Owl, many of its preferred mammalian prey species, such as possums, gliders and phascogales, also live in tree-hollows, compounding the adverse effect.

In areas where clearing of old trees has occurred, sometimes only a few hollows remain, meaning that there is much competition for breeding space. Some species are very aggressive when defending nest hollows, and less aggressive species are left by the wayside. The expansion of agricultural land in some areas has allowed the populations of some species, such as Galahs, to explode and become invasive species, expanding their range into areas where they were previously not present. In these recently colonized areas, these newcomers may compete for nest hollows with other species such as Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo in areas where the clearing of native woodland has resulted in few tree hollows remaining. The pressure from this increased competition for nest-sites is a major threat to the species. Similarly, some invasive exotic species, especially Common Mynas and Common Starlings, are especially aggressive around potential nest-hollows, and may even physically evict the nests, eggs or young of native species from the hollow to build their own nest, and chase the original owners away.

Competition for tree hollows does not only stem from other birds. On Kangaroo Island in South Australia, the Glossy Black-Cockatoo is threatened by competition for hollows with Common Brushtail Possums, which are also significant predators of the Cockatoos' eggs. Hollows are also often taken over by swarms of feral honeybees to build their hives.

The concept of an extinct species is easy to understand - there are simply none left. However, understanding what a threatened species is can be more complex. There are different classifications into which a living threatened species or subspecies may be placed, and to determine which classification is the correct one they must fit at least one of the following criteria:

• The population must have declined measurably
• The extent of occurrence must be restricted, with a small population or a fragmented distribution
• The population must be small and declining or with a fragmented distribution
• The population is considered likely to become extinct in the foreseeable future

Click on one of the classifications for a current list of threatened or extinct birds:

Critically Endangered | Endangered | Vulnerable | Extinct

Critically Endangered

Herald Petrel  Pterodroma heraldica
Orange-bellied Parrot  Neophema chrysogaster
Round Island Petrel, Trinidade Petrel  Pterodroma arminjoniana s. str.
Scrubtit (King Island)  Acanthornis magna greeniana
Spotted Quail-thrush (Mt Lofty Ranges)  Cinclosoma punctatum anachoreta
Yellow Chat (Dawson)  Epthianura crocea macgregori

Endangered

Abbott's Booby  Papasula abbotti
Amsterdam Albatross  Diomedea exulans amsterdamensis
Antarctic Tern (New Zealand)  Sterna vittata bethunei
Australasian Bittern  Botaurus poiciloptilus
Black-eared  Manorina melanotis
Black-throated Finch (southern)  Poephila cincta cincta
Brown Thornbill (King Island)  Acanthiza pusilla archibaldi
Buff-banded Rail (Cocos (Keeling) Islands  Gallirallus philippensis andrewsi
Buff-breasted Button-quail  Turnix olivii
Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo, Short-billed Black-Cockatoo  Calyptorhynchus latirostris
Chatham Albatross  Thalassarche eremita = Thalassarche cauta eremita
Chestnut-rumped Heathwren (Mt Lofty Ranges)  Hylacola pyrrhopygia parkeri
Christmas Island Goshawk  Accipiter hiogaster natalis
Coxen's Fig-Parrot  Cyclopsitta diophthalma coxeni
Eastern Bristlebird  Dasyornis brachypterus
Emerald Dove (Christmas Island)  Chalcophaps indica natalis
Forty-spotted Pardalote  Pardalotus quadragintus
Glossy Black-Cockatoo (Kangaroo Island), Glossy Black-Cockatoo (South Australian)  Calyptorhynchus lathami halmaturinus
Golden-shouldered Parrot  Psephotus chrysopterygius
Gouldian Finch  Erythrura gouldiae
Gould's Petrel  Pterodroma leucoptera leucoptera
Grey-headed Albatross  Thalassarche chrysostoma 
Helmeted Honeyeater  Lichenostomus melanops cassidix
Hooded Robin (Tiwi Islands)  Melanodryas cucullata melvillensis
Island Thrush (Christmas Island)  Turdus poliocephalus erythropleurus 
Mallee Emu-wren  Stipiturus mallee 
Night Parrot  Pezoporus occidentalis
Norfolk Island Boobook Owl, Southern Boobook (Norfolk Island)  Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata
Norfolk Island Green Parrot  Cyanoramphus cookii
Northern Royal Albatross  Diomedea epomophora sanfordi 
Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo (south-eastern)  Calyptorhynchus banksii graptogyne
Regent Honeyeater  Anthochaera phrygia 
Southern Emu-wren (Fleurieu Peninsula), Mount Lofty Southern Emu-wren  Stipiturus malachurus intermedius 
Southern Giant-Petrel  Macronectes giganteus
Southern Cassowary  Casuarius casuarius johnsonii
Star Finch (eastern), Star Finch (southern)  Neochmia ruficauda ruficauda
Swift Parrot  Lathamus discolor
Tasmanian Azure Kingfisher  Ceyx azureus diemenensis
Tristan Albatross  Diomedea exulans exulans
Wedge-tailed Eagle (Tasmanian)  Aquila audax fleayi
Western Ground Parrot  Pezoporus wallicus flaviventris
Western Whipbird (western heath)  Psophodes nigrogularis nigrogularis
Yellow Chat (Alligator Rivers)  Epthianura crocea tunneyi

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Vulnerable

Antarctic Tern (Indian Ocean)  Sterna vittata vittata
Antipodean Albatross  Diomedea exulans antipodensis
Australian Lesser Noddy  Anous tenuirostris melanops
Australian Painted Snipe  Rostratula australis
Baudin's Black-Cockatoo, Long-billed Black-Cockatoo  Calyptorhynchus baudinii
Black-breasted Button-quail  Turnix melanogaster
Black-browed Albatross  Thalassarche melanophris
Blue Petrel  Halobaena caerulea
Buller's Albatross  Thalassarche bulleri
Campbell Albatross  Thalassarche melanophris impavida
Cape Barren Goose (south-western), Recherche Cape Barren Goose  Cereopsis novaehollandiae grisea
Christmas Island Frigatebird, Andrew's Frigatebird  Fregata andrewsi
Christmas Island Hawk-Owl  Ninox natalis
Crested Shrike-tit (northern), Northern Shrike-tit  Falcunculus frontatus whitei
Crimson Finch (white-bellied)  Neochmia phaeton evangelinae
Fairy Prion (southern)  Pachyptila turtur subantarctica
Fairy Tern (Australian)  Sternula nereis nereis
Forest Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo  Calyptorhynchus banksii naso
Gibson's Albatross  Diomedea exulans gibsoni
Golden Whistler (Norfolk Island)  Pachycephala pectoralis xanthoprocta
Grey Grasswren (Bulloo)  Amytornis barbatus barbatus
Imperial Shag (Heard Island), Heard Shag  Leucocarbo atriceps nivalis
Imperial Shag (Macquarie Island)  Leucocarbo atriceps purpurascens
Kermadec Petrel (western)  Pterodroma neglecta neglecta
Lord Howe Island Currawong, Pied Currawong (Lord Howe Island)  Strepera graculina crissalis
Lord Howe Woodhen  Gallirallus sylvestris
Malleefowl  Leipoa ocellata
Masked Owl (northern)  Tyto novaehollandiae kimberli
Masked Owl (Tasmanian)  Tyto novaehollandiae castanops (Tasmanian population)
Muir's Corella (southern), Western Long-billed Corella (southern)  Cacatua pastinator pastinator
Noisy Scrub-bird  Atrichornis clamosus
Northern Giant-Petrel  Macronectes halli
Pacific Albatross  Thalassarche bulleri nov.
Pacific Robin (Norfolk Island)  Petroica multicolor multicolor
Painted Button-quail (Houtman Abrolhos)  Turnix varius scintillans
Partridge Pigeon (eastern)  Geophaps smithii smithii
Partridge Pigeon (western)  Geophaps smithii blaauwi
Plains-wanderer  Pedionomus torquatus
Princess Parrot, Alexandra's Parrot  Polytelis alexandrae
Purple-crowned Fairy-wren (western)  Malurus coronatus coronatus
Red Goshawk  Erythrotriorchis radiatus
Red-lored Whistler  Pachycephala rufogularis
Regent Parrot (eastern)  Polytelis anthopeplus monarchoides
Salvin's Albatross  Thalassarche cauta salvini
Shy Albatross, Tasmanian Shy Albatross  Thalassarche cauta cauta
Slender-billed Thornbill (western)  Acanthiza iredalei iredalei
Soft-plumaged Petrel  Pterodroma mollis
Sooty Albatross  Phoebetria fusca
Southern Emu-wren (Eyre Peninsula)  Stipiturus malachurus parimeda
Southern Royal Albatross  Diomedea epomophora epomophora
Squatter Pigeon (southern)  Geophaps scripta scripta
Superb Parrot  Polytelis swainsonii
Thick-billed Grasswren (eastern)  Amytornis textilis modestus = Amytornis modestus
Wandering Albatross  Diomedea exulans (sensu lato) 
Western Bristlebird  Dasyornis longirostris
Western Whipbird (eastern)  Psophodes nigrogularis leucogaster
White-bellied Storm-Petrel (Tasman Sea), White-bellied Storm-Petrel (Australasian)  Fregetta grallaria grallaria
White-capped Albatross  Thalassarche cauta steadi
White-winged Fairy-wren (Barrow Island), Barrow Island Black-and-white Fairy-wren  Malurus leucopterus edouardi
White-winged Fairy-wren (Dirk Hartog Island), Dirk Hartog Black-and-White Fairy-wren  Malurus leucopterus leucopterus
Yellow-nosed Albatross  Thalassarche carteri = Thalassarche chlororhynchos Indian

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Extinct

Buff-banded Rail (Macquarie Island)  Gallirallus philippensis macquariensis
Emu (Tasmanian)  Dromaius novaehollandiae diemenensis
Grey Fantail (Lord Howe Island)  Rhipidura fuliginosa cervina
Grey-headed Blackbird, Norfolk Island Thrush  Turdus poliocephalus poliocephalus
Kangaroo Island Emu  Dromaius baudinianus
King Island Emu  Dromaius ater
Lewin's Rail (western)  Lewinia pectoralis clelandi
Lord Howe Gerygone, Lord Howe Warbler  Gerygone insularis
New Zealand Pigeon (Norfolk Island race)  Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae spadicea
Norfolk Island Kaka  Nestor productus
Norfolk Island Long-tailed Triller  Lalage leucopyga leucopyga
Paradise Parrot  Psephotus pulcherrimus
Red-crowned Parakeet (Lord Howe Island), Lord Howe Parakeet Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae subflavescens
Red-crowned Parakeet (Macquarie Island), Macquarie Island Parakeet  Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae erythrotis
Robust White-eye  Zosterops strenuus
Roper River Scrub-robin  Drymodes superciliaris colcloughi
Rufous Bristlebird (western), South-western Rufous Bristlebird  Dasyornis broadbenti litoralis
Southern Boobook (Lord Howe Island), Lord Howe Boobook Owl  Ninox novaeseelandiae albaria
Tasman Starling  Aplonis fusca = Aplornis fusca
Vinous-tinted Thrush  Turdus poliocephalus vinitinctus
White Gallinule  Porphyrio albus
White-chested White-eye, Norfolk Island Silvereye  Zosterops albogularis
White-throated Pigeon (Lord Howe Island), Lord Howe Pigeon  Columba vitiensis godmanae

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For more information on threatened species lists visit the Environment Australia website.