Atrichornithidae

Atrichornithidae, the scrubbirds, is a small family of Australian passerine birds containing two species in the single genus Atrichornis: the rufous scrubbird of northeastern New South Wales and southeastern Queensland, and the noisy scrubbird, found only east of Albany in Western Australia. Both are shy, secretive, ground-dwelling birds about 20 centimeters long, cryptically colored in drab browns and blacks and adept at scuttling mouse-like through cover rather than flying, which they do poorly. Despite their weak flight, males produce remarkably loud, ringing, metallic calls with a ventriloquial quality. The noisy scrubbird is a conservation success story, recovering from as few as 40 to 45 known birds in 1962 to roughly 1,200 by 2002 through dedicated recovery efforts.