Sydney Olympic Park supports a small but regionally significant resident population of the White-fronted Chat Epthianura albifrons. It inhabits the Coastal Saltmarsh of the Newington Nature Reserve wetland, though sometimes forages amongst damp, grassy habitat in other precincts of the Park, as well as north of the Parramatta River in Ermington. Prior to site redevelopment, White-fronted Chats probably also utilised swampy wetlands that had developed over unremediated landfills.
The White-fronted Chat is a small bird (approximately 13cm in length). Males have distinctive black and white markings while females are are a duller, greyish-brown colour.
White-fronted Chats are insectivorous, and forage in small flocks for midges, kelp-flies, beetles and other insects.
The species has a wide distribution across coastal and inland southern Australia. It occurs in saltmarsh and other damp areas with low vegetation, such as swampy farmland, roadside verges and sometimes beaches, lake edges and mudflats.
Males and females form pairs to mate towards the end of winter. They build nests low to the ground, sometimes in loose colonies, but males usually defend a small nest-site territory. Only the female builds the nest (guarded closely by the male), but both sexes take equal roles in incubation and feeding of young. Clutch size is small (2-3 eggs), and reproductive success is low, with most losses due to predation.
The White-fronted Chat has undergone decline over much of its range. In areas of high human population density, its decline is largely attributed to draining and filling of saltmarsh and other swampy areas for development such as housing, which has destroyed much of its habitat. Only two populations now remain in the Sydney region; one at Sydney Olympic Park and the other at Towra Point Nature Reserve, Botany Bay. Both are considered to be isolated, closed populations.
The White-fronted Chat is listed as a vulnerable species in NSW, and the two Sydney populations are collectively listed as endangered, under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995.
Sydney Olympic Park's population was reported to comprise 60-100 birds in 1996, but targeted surveys indicate that the population has declined from 19 birds in 2005 to just 4 birds in 2010(all of which are males). This decline is likely to be a result of a combination of:
Given the current size of the population and the lack of females, it is likely that the White-fronted Chat will become locally extinct in the near future.
Recent works to conserve and expand Coastal Saltmarsh have increased the area of suitable habitat for White-fronted Chats at Sydney Olympic Park.
Predator control programs are ongoing at the Park to reduce populations of foxes and other species that are likely to prey on White-fronted Chats.
Disturbance to White-fronted Chat nests has been avoided by restricting management activities within the Coastal Saltmarsh of Newington Nature Reserve during their breeding season from late winter until late summer.
See Environment Reports for more information about White-fronted Chat monitoring and management.