 A study of the population at Cape Le Gand showed a decline in the period 1944–72.The type locality King George Sound was the source of a later collection made by George Masters for the Australian Museum in 1869.A report on the species for British journal "Ibis" by Tom Carter in 1921 noted the occurrence of the species at swamps, common at those dominated by paperbark ("Melaleuca") near Albany (1913) and located nests at a wetland near Cape Leeuwin (1916); records are also given for sites around Lake Muir (1913) and at Warren River (March, 1919) in dense scrub below karri forest.