From Opus

Photo by Graham Harcombe
Shark Bay Western Australia, November 2009

Amytornis textilis

Includes Western Grasswren

[edit] Identification

Dull greyish-brown, fine, dark-edged whitish streaks, paler underparts.

[edit] Distribution

Australia.

[edit] Taxonomy

This species is split by some authorities; Gill and Donsker (2010) have A. textilis as Western Grasswren (includes A. t. myall) and A. modestus as Thick-billed Grasswren.

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

• A. t. textilis:

• West Western Australia (Dirk Hartog Island & inland from Shark Bay)

• A. t. myall:

• Gawler Range and northern Eyre Peninsula (South Australia)

• A. t. modestus:

• Central Australia (Alice Springs, Northern Territory to central New South Wales)

[edit] Habitat

Thick bushes and shrubby vegetation. Particularly acacia-dominated shrublands, dense shrub associations in drainage depressions, and Triodia spinifex with acacia shrubland components.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Diet

The diet consists of a wide variety of insects, from termites, to spiders, also caterpillars, grass seeds and small berries.

[edit] Diet

The female builds a hooded, deep, cup-shaped nest formed from strips of bark and dry grass, lined with fine dry grass and sometimes flowers or feathers. The 1-4 eggs are laid at 40-48 hour intervals. Both sexes incubate the eggs for 15-17 days, and feed the young.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2010. IOC World Bird Names (version 2.7). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
3. environment.gov.au
4. BF Member observations

• List of references

[edit] External Links

• View more images of this species on the ABID