Species loss and decline among birds of coastal Central Queensland over 130 years

Many longitudinal studies of regional avifaunas have been conducted in Australia, but the majority concern temperate inland regions. We examined changes in the avifauna of the Rockhampton region (10 500 km(2)) in subtropical, coastal Central Queensland, Australia, over 130 years, comparing accounts from 1888, 1925 and 1973-1974 with survey data from 2000 to 2019. Of the 307 confirmed species recorded until 1975, 11 resident species have since disappeared from the region, while another 11 species appear to have declined. This is the highest number of extinct bird species reported to date in a region larger than 1000 km(2), although the annual extinction rate is surpassed by that of Coomooboolaroo, a pastoral property of 454 km(2) only 100 km away, which lost 18 species over a similar period. Eleven (50%) of the 22 extirpated or declining species forage primarily on the ground, and 12 (55%) are primarily insectivorous. Eucalypt woodland is the major habitat of 11 species (50%), while another five (23%) are associated with rainforests. Species loss and decline coincided with habitat loss: 63% of the eucalypt woodland and 70% of the rainforest have been cleared since Europeans settled in the region. Livestock overgrazing probably played a role in the extirpation of four species of finches. The decline of at least 11 species since 1975 coincided with three consecutive decades of low rainfall, and an ongoing increase in ambient temperature.