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Kalkadoon Grasswren (Amytornis ballarae) Alternate name(s): "Ballara Grasswren" Size: 16-17.5 cm; wing span ca. 19 cm Body mass: 17-26 g

Australia: Family Group 16 Family Group 16 Table Purple-crowned Fairy-wren White-winged Fairy-wren Splendid Fairy-wren Superb Fairy-wren Variegated Fairy-wren Purple-backed Fairy-wren Blue-breasted Fairy-wren Lovely Fairy-wren Red-winged Fairy-wren Red-backed Fairy-wren Southern Emu-wren Rufous-crowned Emu-wren Carpentarian Grasswren Eyrean Grasswren Striated Grasswren Thick-billed Grasswren Western Grasswren Dusky Grasswren Kalkadoon Grasswren Grey Grasswren Black Grasswren Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Kalkadoon Grasswrens are small, grey-brown birds with long tails. Their cryptic plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are slightly different. Both sexes have a dark-grey head and back, finely streaked white and rufous. The chest shows a stronger hint of rufous streaking. Upperwings and tail are dark grey-brown, with white streaking on the wing coverts. Males have a grey belly and flanks, while females have rufous flanks and a rufous-grey belly. Juveniles are similar to females, but with fainter white streaking and a pale base of the bill.

Taxonomy, classification See Kalkadoon Grasswren at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The overall distribution of the Kalkadoon Grasswren is available HERE . Kalkadoon Grasswrens are endemic to Australia. As is the case with all species of grasswrens, their overall distribution is complex, patchy and highly irregular. Some races also have very restricted ranges. This is mainly caused by the fact that grasswrens are rather poor fliers and individual populations, once separated, will not merge again, leading to a separation of the gene pools.This species, which was formerly considered to be a race of the Dusky Grasswren (not described here yet), has a very restricted range. Kalkadoon Grasswrens are only found in the Selwyn Range system, an area around the deserted mining town of Ballara, QLD, ranging from Mount Isa to Cloncurry and up to about 100 km to the North and South from a line connecting those two towns. Kalkadoon Grasswrens have a strong preference for hills and rocky slopes of the Selwyn Ranges covered with Triodia ("Spinifex") grass.

Sightings Click here for sighting information M. Eaton reports finding Kalkadoon Grasswrens at the Pamela Street water tanks in the township of Mount Isa, QLD, on several occasions since June 2021. All sighting and photographic information presented on this page has been kindly contributed by M. Eaton.

Photos

ADULT

PAIR

Many bird species exhibit sexual dimorphism, i.e., male and female have differing appearances which can be quite subtle.
Note the female Kalkadoon Grasswren's deep-rufous flank, on the right, while the male's is plain-grey.

MALE

Close-up frontal view of a male Kalkadoon Grasswren looking sideways; note the grey flanks which characterise this bird as a male (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Pamela Street water tanks, Mount Isa, QLD, July 2021]

Close-up frontal view of a male Kalkadoon Grasswren looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Pamela Street water tanks, Mount Isa, QLD, July 2021]

Close-up near-frontal view of a male Kalkadoon Grasswren (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Pamela Street water tanks, Mount Isa, QLD, August 2022]

Close-up near-frontal view of a male Kalkadoon Grasswren (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Pamela Street water tanks, Mount Isa, QLD, July 2021]

Close-up near-frontal view of a male Kalkadoon Grasswren looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Pamela Street water tanks, Mount Isa, QLD, August 2022]

Close-up near-frontal view of a male Kalkadoon Grasswren looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Pamela Street water tanks, Mount Isa, QLD, July 2021]

Near-lateral view of a male Kalkadoon Grasswren issuing its call (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Pamela Street water tanks, Mount Isa, QLD, July 2021]

Lateral view of a male Kalkadoon Grasswren (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Pamela Street water tanks, Mount Isa, QLD, July 2021]

Lateral view of a male Kalkadoon Grasswren (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Pamela Street water tanks, Mount Isa, QLD, August 2022]

Dorsal view of a male Kalkadoon Grasswren with its inner eyelid closed (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Pamela Street water tanks, Mount Isa, QLD, June 2025]

Dorsal view of a male Kalkadoon Grasswren (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Pamela Street water tanks, Mount Isa, QLD, August 2022]

FEMALE

Near-frontal view of a female Kalkadoon Grasswren; note the rufous flank, which characterises this bird as a female
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Pamela Street water tanks, Mount Isa, QLD, July 2021]

Near-lateral view of a female Kalkadoon Grasswren (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Pamela Street water tanks, Mount Isa, QLD, July 2021]

Lateral view of a female Kalkadoon Grasswren (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Pamela Street water tanks, Mount Isa, QLD, July 2021]

Lateral view of a female Kalkadoon Grasswren (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Pamela Street water tanks, Mount Isa, QLD, July 2021]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Sedentary

Elementary unit: Family clan

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