Researchers Use A.I. to Find an Elusive and ‘Odd’ Australian Bird. It Hadn’t Been Recorded in the Area Since 1989
Once abundant throughout southeastern Australia, the critically endangered plains-wanderer is now on the brink of extinction
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The plains-wanderer is an unusual little bird that lives in the grasslands of Australia. These “avian oddballs” spend most of their lives on the ground, using their dappled tan and white feathers to blend in with their surroundings, according to the Australian Wildlife Conservancy.
But, in addition to keeping the birds hidden from predators, the plains-wanderer’s natural camouflage also makes it difficult for researchers to find them. And that’s a problem: Since the birds are critically endangered, scientists would very much like to know where they’re living, what they’re up to and how many of them are left in the wild.
Now, researchers are turning to artificial intelligence (A.I.) for help, reports the Guardian’s Petra Stock. After recording tens of thousands of hours of sound, scientists used A.I. to sift through all the noise—and identify the distinctive call of the plains-wanderer.
With help from the technology and verification by human scientists, they’ve now determined that the birds (Pedionomus torquatus) are living in two pockets of grassland west of Melbourne, in the southeast corner of the continent. It’s the first time the species has been documented in this region in more than three decades.
The project was spearheaded by the team at Zoos Victoria, a nonprofit conservation group that runs four zoos and wildlife parks. They teamed up with the Museums Victoria Research Institute and Queensland University of Technology, which had developed an A.I.-equipped audio recorder called a “song meter.”
Zoos Victoria staffers installed 35 song meters on nine properties located in the plains-wanderer’s historic habitat. The gadgets recorded tens of thousands of hours of sound and used machine learning to pick out the snippets that most resembled the plains-wanderer’s call. (Females make a soft, low “oom” sound that is sometimes compared to a cow’s “moo.”) Experts later reviewed those clips and confirmed the presence of the birds at two of the study sites—one on public land, the other on private land.
“Finding plains-wanderers west of Melbourne is huge from a conservation perspective,” says Chris Hartnett, the threatened species program coordinator for Zoos Victoria, in a video posted on Instagram. “It means that this area can still support this critically endangered species. … We can build on this information to start creating the conditions to support a whole population of plains-wanderers.”
The last time plains-wanderers were recorded in the region was in 1989, according to the Zoos Victoria Instagram post. The team plans to keep listening for the birds and is encouraging private landowners to report any sightings so they can discuss installing song meters on their property, too.
The birds were once plentiful throughout eastern Australia, including in the states of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. But, as their grassland habitat dwindled, so did their population. An estimated 250 to 1,000 individuals remain in the wild today.
“To know that this incredibly resilient bird has still persisted, with all the changes to the landscape, it just inspires me,” says Hartnett in the video.
Standing up to roughly six inches tall and weighing less than four ounces, plains-wanderers have bright yellow beaks, legs and eyes. Their bodies are covered in tan, white and black feathers that make streaky or spotted patterns; females also have patterned black and white feathers around their necks, as well as red chest feathers.
These shy creatures have no close relatives today and are the only known living members of the Pedionomidae family.
“In evolutionary terms, the plains-wanderer is one of a kind,” according to Zoos Victoria. “There is no bird like it in the world.”
Habitat loss is the primary threat to the species’ survival. But, as poor flyers, they’re also vulnerable to predation by feral cats and foxes. (When a plains-wanderer suspects danger is nearby, it will crouch down in the grass and run away.)
“They’re very endearing and quite eccentric,” Hartnett tells the Guardian.
