Plains-wanderer explained

The plains-wanderer (Pedionomus torquatus) is a bird, the only representative of family Pedionomidae and genus Pedionomus. It is endemic to Australia. Its historic range included much of eastern Australia, including Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory, but in recent years, it has become endangered with remaining known populations concentrated in the Riverina region of New South Wales and western Queensland.

Description

The plains-wanderer is a quail-like ground bird, measuring 15 - 19 cm. It is such an atypical bird that it is placed in an entire family of its own, Pedionomidae. The adult male is light brown above, with fawn-white underparts with black crescents. The adult female is substantially larger than the male, and has a distinctive, white-spotted black collar. They have excellent camouflage and will first hide at any disturbance. If approached too closely, they will run rather than fly, at which they are very poor. Females lay four eggs, which the male then incubates.^[1]

Taxonomy

It was formerly believed to be related to the buttonquails and thus placed in the gamebird order Galliformes or with the cranes and rails in Gruiformes. DNA–DNA hybridization and RAG-1 sequence data places it as a wader related to the jacanas.^{[2] [3] [4] [5]} It thus represents a remarkable case of morphological convergence, or perhaps it is simply extremely plesiomorphic in morphology (the buttonquails, meanwhile, having turned out to be a very basal offshoot of the wader radiation). In the latter case, this would mean that the jacanas, painted snipe and seedsnipes—all ecologically very different birds—all evolved from birds very similar to the living plains-wanderer.

Status and conservation

Population decline has been caused by the conversion of native grasslands to cultivation and intensive predation by the introduced fox—the species' ground-nesting habits, poor flying ability, and tendency to run rather than fly from predators make it easy prey for the fox.^[6] Sites identified by BirdLife International as being important for plains-wanderer conservation are Boolcoomatta, Bindarrah and Kalkaroo Stations in north-eastern South Australia, Diamantina and Astrebla Grasslands in western Queensland, Patho Plains in northern Victoria and the Riverina Plains in New South Wales.^[7]

A crucial aspect of Plains-wanderer conservation is their habitat needs. They require grasslands with both open and denser vegetation for foraging and roosting, which is essential for their survival and recovery.^[8]

International

This bird is listed as Endangered on the 2022 IUCN Red List.

Australia

Plains-wanderers are listed as critically endangered under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). Their conservation status varies from state to state within Australia:^[9]

• New South Wales: Endangered, under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (NSW) (February 2022 list)
• Queensland: Critically Endangered, under Nature Conservation (Animals) Regulation 2020 (November 2021 list)
• South Australia: Endangered, under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 (January 2020 list)
• Victoria: Critically Endangered, under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (October 2021 list)

A 2018 study ranked it sixth in a list of Australian birds most likely to go extinct.^[10]

Conservation efforts

A captive population was established in late 2018 within a purpose-built facility containing 30 aviaries at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo. These captive individuals will form an insurance population as part of a breed-and-release program to support the wild population, as part of the national conservation plan for the species.^[11]

See also

• Pualco Range Conservation Park

Further reading

• Paton, T. A.; Baker, A. J.; Groth, J. G. & Barrowclough, G. F. (2003): "RAG-1 sequences resolve phylogenetic relationships within charadriiform birds". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 29: 268–278. ; (HTML abstract).
• Sibley, Charles Gald & Ahlquist, Jon Edward (1990): Phylogeny and classification of birds. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.
• Thomas, Gavin H.; Wills, Matthew A. & Székely, Tamás (2004): "A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny". BMC Evol. Biol. 4: 28. . . Supplementary material.
• van Tuinen, Marcel; Waterhouse, David & Dyke, Gareth J. (2004): PDF "Avian molecular systematics on the rebound: a fresh look at modern shorebird phylogenetic relationships". Journal of Avian Biology 35(3): 191–194.

Notes and References

1. Book: Forshaw, Joseph. Archibald, George W.. 1991. Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. Merehurst Press. London. 101. 978-1-85391-186-6.
2. Book: Sibley . Charles G. . Phylogeny and Classification of the Birds: A Study in Molecular Evolution . Ahlquist . Jon E. . 1990 . Yale University Press . j.ctt1xp3v3r . 978-0-300-04085-2.
3. Thomas . Gavin H. . Wills . Matthew A. . Székely . Tamás . 2004-08-24 . A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny . BMC Evolutionary Biology . 4 . 1 . 28 . 10.1186/1471-2148-4-28 . 1471-2148 . 515296 . 15329156 . free .
4. Van Tuinen . Marcel . Waterhouse . David . J. Dyke . Gareth . 2004 . Avian molecular systematics on the rebound: a fresh look at modern shorebird phylogenetic relationships . Journal of Avian Biology . en . 35 . 3 . 191–194 . 10.1111/j.0908-8857.2004.03362.x . 0908-8857.
5. Paton . Tara A. . Baker . Allan J. . Groth . Jeff G. . Barrowclough . George F. . 2003 . RAG-1 sequences resolve phylogenetic relationships within Charadriiform birds . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 29 . 2 . 268–278 . 10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00098-8 . 13678682 . 2003MolPE..29..268P . 1055-7903.
6. 10.1111/emr.12221. 1442-8903. 17. 3. 235–242. Baker-Gabb. David. Antos. Mark. Brown. Geoff. Recent decline of the critically endangered Plains-wanderer (Pedionomus torquatus), and the application of a simple method for assessing its cause: major changes in grassland structure. Ecological Management & Restoration. 2016. 2016EcoMR..17..235B.
7. Web site: Plains-wanderer . 2012-11-04 . Important Bird Areas . BirdLife International . 2012.
8. Nugent . Daniel T. . Baker-Gabb . David J. . Green . Peter . Ostendorf . Bertram . Dawlings . Finella . Clarke . Rohan H. . Morgan . John W. . 2022 . Multi-scale habitat selection by a cryptic, critically endangered grassland bird—The Plains-wanderer (Pedionomus torquatus): Implications for habitat management and conservation . Austral Ecology . en . 47 . 3 . 698–712 . 10.1111/aec.13157 . 247098208 . 1442-9985. free . 2022AusEc..47..698N .
9. Web site: Pedionomus torquatus — Plains-wanderer. Species Profile and Threats Database. Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Australian Government. 7 July 2022.
10. Geyle . Hayley M. . Woinarski . John C. Z. . Baker . G. Barry . Dickman . Chris R. . Dutson . Guy . Fisher . Diana O. . Ford . Hugh . Holdsworth . Mark . Jones . Menna E. . Kutt . Alex . Legge . Sarah . Leiper . Ian . Loyn . Richard . Murphy . Brett P. . Menkhorst . Peter . Reside . April E. . Ritchie . Euan G. . Roberts . Finley E. . Tingley . Reid . Garnett . Stephen T.. 2 . Quantifying extinction risk and forecasting the number of impending Australian bird and mammal extinctions . . 24 . 2 . 20 April 2018 . 2204-4604 . 10.1071/PC18006 . 157–167 . 11 July 2022. free . 10536/DRO/DU:30109156 . free . PDF
11. Web site: Dubbo Zoo welcomes two critically endangered chicks. 2020-04-14. Daily Liberal. en. 2020-04-17.