Imagine you are taking your weekly walk through your favorite natural park as usual, and you suddenly hear the song of a bird you’re not familiar with. Some people would simply feel a little confused; what is that bird? I’ve never heard it before. However, the most devoted ornithologists would feel their hearts skip a beat. Most people who live near West Cape Howe National Park in Western Australia are very familiar with the flora and fauna there. However, there is a small bird that they had not heard since the 1890s. Readers can imagine the joy felt by nature lovers who were able to hear this little bird’s song for the first time in real life.
The greatest songbird comeback
The bird in question is the Noisy Scrub-bird (Atrichornis clamosus), an icon of Australian conservation. It is also commonly known as ‘Djimaalap’ by the Minang Noongar indigenous people. Efforts to reintroduce this bird to Western Australia have finally borne fruit. In early September 2025, three birds were relocated to this area. After decades of fighting against their decline, we can now hear them singing naturally in national parks in this area.
It is a songbird but does not usually fly very far, only very short distances. Its territorial song is extremely loud and resonant, which made it very distinctive and easy to identify. For now, its conservation status remains in the Endangered category, IUCN 3.1.
This little bird was very common in the area until European colonization. With the creation of large settlements, deforestation caused its dense habitat to be depleted. By 1890, it was classified as an extinct species. However, in 1961, H.O. Webster rediscovered this bird in the Two Peoples Bay nature reserve. They still existed, although the population was tiny, which immediately became a conservation priority for Australian ecologists and nature lovers.
This was not so easy: its survival depends on the availability of dense vegetation and leaf litter. The 2015 fires destroyed 90% of this bird’s habitat in Two Peoples Bay, putting the population in jeopardy.
This bird is particularly vulnerable to introduced species such as feral cats and foxes, which are fierce predators. With only about 1,500 individuals in total, the threat of inbreeding and genetic problems made the population of this endangered bird very vulnerable to disease and genetic mutations.
To try to help them, conservationists created multiple populations in safe areas (such as Bald Island and Mt Manypeaks). They moved all the eggs from a single basket to several of these, to ensure that a single fire would not wipe out the entire population of this bird. The goal at West Cape Howe was to introduce birds from the widest possible range to maximize genetic diversity and avoid bottlenecks.
How to keep track of the Noisy Scrub-bird
This little songbird is very good at hiding. In fact, researchers have to keep track of how the populations are doing using small transmitters and acoustic networks. It is very difficult to see these birds, so researchers simply keep a list of the times they hear the males singing.
For now, the population of this endangered species is thriving in the West Cape Howe refuge. This area was classified as a National Park (Class C) in July 1985 (and upgraded to Class A in 1987). And it seems that ecologists chose the park well. It took months of evaluating food resources, habitat management, and climate risks. Apart from the Noisy Scrub-bird, other endangered species living in this nature park are the Western Ringtailed Possum and the Main’s Killer Spider. Mammals such as the Quenda, Dunnart, and Mardo also live there. There’s never a quite moment at West Cape Howe, that’s for sure.