Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Plains-wanderer (Pedionomus torquatus), recorded as Endangered
Plains-wanderer (Pedionomus torquatus). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Endangered

Plains-wanderer

Pedionomus torquatus

Plains-wanderer is a shorebird in the family Pedionomidae (order Charadriiformes) — Pedionomus torquatus, recorded as Endangered and tied to Australia.

Status
Endangered
Scientific name
Pedionomus torquatus
Recorded from
Australia
Taxonomy
Aves · Charadriiformes · Pedionomidae · Pedionomus

Appearance

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.

The plains-wanderer is a quail-like ground bird, measuring 15–19 cm.

Published measurements include mass about 72.4.

Range and habitat

Its historic range included much of eastern Australia, among them 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.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

In crisis

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. A captive population was established in late 2018 within a purpose-built facility containing 30 aviaries at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo.

Plains-wanderer is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Plains-wanderer, Wikidata item Q665606. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia · Wikidata · IUCN Red List.

Also in this catalog

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Vaquita

Phocoena sinus
Photograph of Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Javan rhinoceros

Rhinoceros sondaicus
Photograph of Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Sumatran orangutan

Pongo abelii
Photograph of Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Axolotl

Ambystoma mexicanum

Quick answers

What is Plains-wanderer?
Plains-wanderer is a shorebird in the family Pedionomidae (order Charadriiformes) — Pedionomus torquatus.
What is the conservation status of Plains-wanderer?
Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Pedionomus torquatus. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Plains-wanderer live?
Its historic range included much of eastern Australia, among them 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.
Why is Plains-wanderer in crisis?
Its historic range included much of eastern Australia, among them 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.
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Pedionomus torquatus?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Plains-wanderer a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.