Is this a Rufous Bristlebird? There was no sign of injury but it was lying dead just above the beach in Robe SA today. I do not think that it was there very long. We were listening to a bird calling nearby and according to Morcombe's ap, it seems to have been a Rufous Bristlebird as well. Never having seen one, it was sad to find my first sighting to be of a dead bird. Sue
Certainly is a Rufous Bristlebird. If you can it would be great to collect and freeze it and get it to the SA museum (with date, location and any other useful details recorded), I doubt they get many Bristlebirds and I'm sure they'd really apreciate it. The ornithology collection manager is Phillipa Horton you could contact her at philippa.horton@ samusem.sa.gov.au
Yes, it's important that you report it and send it to the museum.
Brandon (aka ihewman)
Thanks for the confirmation. Sadly I am now in Port Fairy and heading East. I realised it was unusual so I left the bird in view at Robe (in turn-in described below) in case someone else might know what to do with it. Unfortunately I have no facility for freezing the bird as we are travelling. There are other Rufous Bristlebirds still there as they were heard calling again this morning in the same location --- intersection of Lake Rd and Karatta Rd in Robe, South Australia. The body was found above the little beach accessed from a turn-in at the intersection (not near the pier or marina).
In future I'll work out some way to store the bird if it seems unusual.
Very sad!
As for the cause of death, if the bird would have been bitten by a predator like a cat, it is very difficult to find the bite marks, they would be tiny punctures like needle pricks. Some time ago I took a bluetongue lizard ,that seemed to have a swollen abdomen, to a Vet. He found tiny puncture marks inflicted most likely by a cat.
M-L
Send the photo and location details through to the contact that Bourke has suggested - they may be able to take a quick trip or will simply take note for their own records.
When travelling I understand that it is near impossible to store dead things! At home I have had an assortment of birds in my freezer at one time or another...I can remember once we were staying at my inlaws and I went for a walk, a Rainbow Lorikeet flew smack bang into the side of a car in front of me and died instantly. There was nothing the driver could have done. The poor woman driving had to answer her boys who kept asking 'mummy, why did you kill that bird?'. Anyway, I stepped in and collected it and had to explain to my mother in law not to open that specific plastic bag in the freezer - she was not impressed
Poor little RB, hopefully for the rest the reason behind this ones demise is a one-off.
So sorry to bend the topic a little, but I had a big smile when I read Hollys comment about birds in the freezer. Not about the birds in the freezer, I understand the preservation/study reason of that naturally, but because I had a quick flash of my future
and my grin was because I am so glad that my daughter is too young to be on BIB, because my freezer is too small.
Our next door neighbour had someone repairing their roof last week and the tradesperson knocked on my door to kindly ask if I would like them to remove "the dead things" from our patio roof, free of charge. I had to explain, with blushing cheeks, it was my 10 year olds assortment of nature collections which were still decomposing, but thanked them anyway. On our frequent "bush" jaunts, various "treasures" come home with us & there are currently an assortment of skulls, bones, a Hooded Lapwing wing and Golden Whistler & Little Wattlebird skeletons, to name a few, finishing off their decomposition on our roof. I didn't actually think anyone would be able to see them up there
, not to mention they're safer from our dog and no funky smells waft down from all the way up there. It's not a macabre interest, but a genuine "how things are put together" so I'm very happy to encourage it - even if some "treasures" secretly gross me (and random tradespeople 
) out a little sometimes. Sigh....better start planning for a big deep freeze for a few years time it seems 
West Coast Tasmania
Oh I do understand Ruby and Holly... my daughter had a passion for wildlife rescue and the freezer was used on occasion. Unfortunately she went more with reptiles than birds! Good news is the live Rufous Bristlebird is beautiful and very active at Cape Otway as shown in my hasty photograph today.
On another note, I was surprised to see the damage to the Manna gums caused by the large koala population at Cape Otway. Many trees appeared to have no foliage and to be dead. I wondered if there were plans to move some koalas elsewhere. Sue
Oh I'm so glad I'm not the only one with a "quirky" household
. Certainly makes sure the days aren't dull! Beautiful shot Sue - boy they're certainly an attractive bird, to say the least.
Just had a google out of interest, for info on the Koalas at Cape Otway Sue, I hadn't heard about it. Seems like there is a lot of activity to try to rectify the situation in many ways with quite a few articles here and there in the last 6-8 months or so. So sad to me, from a quick interim read it seems the koalas were introduced to the area in the '80s for tourism, but....now.....
West Coast Tasmania
I thought koalas were indigenous to the Ottway Ranges. If so, then the damage to the manna gums perhaps suggests that there aren't enough manna gums to go satisfy the koala population. If this is correct then perhaps there's been a reduction in manna gums for some reason. Logging? Clearance for agriculture? Disease? Is there a case for revegetation of areas with manna gums & their associated vegetation?
In spite of huge koala damage to native vegetation on Kangaroo Island where they were introduced, authorities are quite happy for the introduced koala population in the Mt Lofty Ranges to increase. It's another human-created ecological disaster waiting to happen.
Oops.. yes Woko you are quite right, I badly misinterpreted the origin of koalas in the area
, my apologies to everyone. As you said, they are indigenous to Cape Otway. A considerable number were then also relocated from French Island to Cape Otway in the 80s, seemingly to boost tourism, and decline of vegetation appears to be most apparent in the last 10 years. There are quite a few news articles & websites to google, but seems to suggest the increase in Koala population to be the main reason? As I said, lots of articles, so there are a few conflicting opinions here & there. On the bright side, many of these articles/sites also seem to be very active in regards to replanting, long & short-term solutions etc with a great deal of revegetation being conducted. Lets hope though that it's not another case of too late 
Just a few of many links....
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3715819.htm
http://www.capeotwaycentre.org/cocce_014.htm
http://www.conservationecologycentre.org/2012/10/the-future-of-koalas-at-cape-otway/
West Coast Tasmania
Brandon (aka ihewman)