Bird Word: Endemic

• Endemic: a species of bird that is confined to a particular region. The Chestnut-breasted Whiteface is endemic to my home state, South Australia. It is not found anywhere else. It is also our only endemic species.

There are many species endemic to Australia, that is, they are found no-where else in the world. Some of these include:

• Emus
• several species of Babblers
• some species of Fairy-Wrens
• the Plains Wanderer

Some species are endemic to certain regions, or particular habitats. For example, the Black Eared Miner is largely confined to the mallee habitat. Some states have more endemic species than others. South Australia has only one, while Tasmania has about a dozen endemic species. One of these is the Forty Spotted Pardalote. I’ve never seen that species, but it is similar to the Spotted Pardalote we have resident in our garden, and is shown in the photo below.

Spotted Pardalote with nesting material in beak