From Opus

Pedionomus torquatus

Photo by swiss7
Plains of southern NSW, Australia

[edit] Identification

15–19 cm. The adult male is light brown above, and has fawn-white underparts with black crescents. The adult female has a distinctive white-spotted black collar and rufous bib. They have a distinctive pattern on the upper wing.

[edit] Distribution

Australia.

[edit] Taxonomy

The Plains-wanderer is the sole member of the family Pedionomidae (occasionally placed in suborder Thinocori), within order Charadriiformes. While superficially resembling button-quails, it appears that the Plains-wanderer is more closely related to plovers and dotterels. Christidis and Boles (1994) follow Sibley and Monroe (1990) in associating the Pedionomidae with the Jacanidae and Scolopacidae.

[edit] Habitat

Lowland native grasslands. They prefer areas with a mix of bare ground and low, widely spaced plants.

[edit] Status

Classified as Endangered in the 2008 IUCN Red List.¹

[edit] Behaviour

The diet includes seeds, insects and spiders.

The female scratches a hollow in the ground, lines it with grass and usually lays 4 eggs. The male incubates the eggs and rears the chicks. The female then pairs with another male.

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2008) Species factsheet: Pedionomus torquatus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 8/9/2008.

[edit] External Links

• View more images of this species on the ABID