Editing Plains-wanderer

{{Short description|Australian species of bird}}
{{use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{use Australian English|date=April 2022}}
{{Speciesbox
| fossil_range = {{fossilrange|Late Pleistocene|Present|earliest=Middle Pleistocene}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Reed, Bourne |first1=Elizabeth, Steven |title=Pleistocene Fossil Vertebrate Sites of the South East Region of South Australia II |journal=Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia |date=2009 |volume=133 |issue=40 |doi=10.1080/03721426.2009.10887108 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233645838_Pleistocene_Fossil_Vertebrate_Sites_of_the_South_East_Region_of_South_Australia_II}}</ref>
| image = Plains-wanderer female 8173.jpg
| image_caption = Female
| image2 = Plains-wanderer male 8055.jpg
| image2_caption = Male
| status = EN
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name =iucn>{{cite iucn| author= BirdLife International | author-link= BirdLife International |year= 2022 |title= ''Pedionomus torquatus'' |page=e.T22693049A212570062 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T22693049A212570062.en| access-date=21 July 2022}}</ref>
| display_parents = 3
| grandparent_authority = [[Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte|Bonaparte]], 1856
| genus = Pedionomus
| parent_authority = [[John Gould|Gould]], 1840
| species = torquatus
| authority = [[John Gould|Gould]], 1840
}}

The '''plains-wanderer''' ('''''Pedionomus torquatus''''') is an atypical species of [[wading bird]], the [[Monotypic taxon|only representative]] of family '''Pedionomidae''' and genus '''''Pedionomus'''''. It is endemic to [[Australia]]. Its historic range included much of eastern Australia, including [[Victoria (state)|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.<ref name =iucn/>

==Description==
The plains-wanderer is a [[quail]]-like ground bird, measuring 15&ndash;19&nbsp;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.<ref name=EoB>{{cite book |editor=Forshaw, Joseph|author= Archibald, George W.|year=1991|title=Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds|publisher= Merehurst Press|location=London|pages= 101|isbn= 978-1-85391-186-6}}</ref>

==Taxonomy==
It was formerly believed to be related to the [[buttonquail]]s and thus placed in the [[gamebird]] order [[Galliformes]] or with the [[crane (bird)|cranes]] and [[rail (bird)|rails]] in [[Gruiformes]]. [[DNA–DNA hybridization]] and [[RAG-1]] [[DNA sequence|sequence]] data places it as a [[wader]] related to the [[Jacana (genus)|jacana]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Sibley |first1=Charles G. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1xp3v3r |title=Phylogeny and Classification of the Birds: A Study in Molecular Evolution |last2=Ahlquist |first2=Jon E. |date=1990 |publisher=Yale University Press |jstor=j.ctt1xp3v3r |isbn=978-0-300-04085-2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=Gavin H. |last2=Wills |first2=Matthew A. |last3=Székely |first3=Tamás |date=2004-08-24 |title=A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=28 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-4-28 |issn=1471-2148 |pmc=515296 |pmid=15329156 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Van Tuinen |first1=Marcel |last2=Waterhouse |first2=David |last3=J. Dyke |first3=Gareth |date=2004 |title=Avian molecular systematics on the rebound: a fresh look at modern shorebird phylogenetic relationships |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0908-8857.2004.03362.x |journal=Journal of Avian Biology |language=en |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=191–194 |doi=10.1111/j.0908-8857.2004.03362.x |issn=0908-8857|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Paton |first1=Tara A. |last2=Baker |first2=Allan J. |last3=Groth |first3=Jeff G. |last4=Barrowclough |first4=George F. |date=2003 |title=RAG-1 sequences resolve phylogenetic relationships within Charadriiform birds |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790303000988 |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=268–278 |doi=10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00098-8 |pmid=13678682 |bibcode=2003MolPE..29..268P |issn=1055-7903|url-access=subscription }}</ref> It thus represents a remarkable case of morphological [[convergence (biology)|convergence]], or perhaps it is simply extremely [[plesiomorphic]] in morphology (the buttonquails, meanwhile, having turned out to be a very [[basal (evolution)|basal]] offshoot of the wader radiation). In the latter case, this would mean that the jacanas, [[painted snipe]] and [[seedsnipe]]s—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 [[grassland]]s to cultivation and intensive predation by the introduced [[Red fox|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.<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1111/emr.12221| issn = 1442-8903| volume = 17| issue = 3| pages = 235–242| last1 = Baker-Gabb| first1 = David| last2 = Antos| first2 = Mark| last3 = Brown| first3 = Geoff| title = 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| journal = Ecological Management & Restoration| date = 2016| bibcode = 2016EcoMR..17..235B}}</ref> [[Important Bird Area|Sites]] identified by [[BirdLife International]] as being important for plains-wanderer conservation are [[Boolcoomatta, Bindarrah and Kalkaroo Stations Important Bird Area|Boolcoomatta, Bindarrah and Kalkaroo Stations]] in north-eastern South Australia, [[Diamantina National Park|Diamantina]] and [[Astrebla Downs National Park|Astrebla Grasslands]] in western [[Queensland]], [[Patho Plains Important Bird Area|Patho Plains]] in northern [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] and the [[Riverina Plains Important Bird Area|Riverina Plains]] in New South Wales.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/Plains-wanderer |title= Plains-wanderer |accessdate=2012-11-04 |work= Important Bird Areas |first= |last= |publisher= BirdLife International |year= 2012}}</ref> 

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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nugent |first1=Daniel T. |last2=Baker-Gabb |first2=David J. |last3=Green |first3=Peter |last4=Ostendorf |first4=Bertram |last5=Dawlings |first5=Finella |last6=Clarke |first6=Rohan H. |last7=Morgan |first7=John W. |date=2022 |title=Multi-scale habitat selection by a cryptic, critically endangered grassland bird—The Plains-wanderer ( Pedionomus torquatus ): Implications for habitat management and conservation |journal=Austral Ecology |language=en |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=698–712 |doi=10.1111/aec.13157 |s2cid=247098208 |issn=1442-9985|doi-access=free |bibcode=2022AusEc..47..698N }}</ref>

===International===
This bird is listed as [[Endangered]] on the 2022 [[IUCN Red List]].<ref name =iucn/>

===Australia===
Plains-wanderers are listed as [[critically endangered species|critically endangered]] under the Australian ''[[Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999]]'' (EPBC Act). Their conservation status varies from state to state within Australia:<ref name=sprat>{{cite web | title=Pedionomus torquatus — Plains-wanderer| website=Species Profile and Threats Database|publisher= [[Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water]], [[Australian Government]]| url=http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=906 | access-date=7 July 2022}}</ref>  

* [[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, Australia|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.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Geyle | first1=Hayley M. | last2=Woinarski | first2=John C. Z. | last3=Baker | first3=G. Barry | last4=Dickman | first4=Chris R. | last5=Dutson | first5=Guy | last6=Fisher | first6=Diana O. | last7=Ford | first7=Hugh | last8=Holdsworth | first8=Mark | last9=Jones | first9=Menna E. | last10=Kutt | first10=Alex | last11=Legge | first11=Sarah | last12=Leiper | first12=Ian | last13=Loyn | first13=Richard | last14=Murphy | first14=Brett P. | last15=Menkhorst | first15=Peter | last16=Reside | first16=April E. | last17=Ritchie | first17=Euan G. | last18=Roberts | first18=Finley E. | last19=Tingley | first19=Reid | last20=Garnett | first20=Stephen T.|display-authors=2 | title=Quantifying extinction risk and forecasting the number of impending Australian bird and mammal extinctions | journal=[[Pacific Conservation Biology]] | volume=24 | issue=2 | date=20 April 2018 | issn=2204-4604 | doi=10.1071/PC18006 | pages=157–167 | url=https://www.publish.csiro.au/pc/PC18006 | access-date=11 July 2022| doi-access=free | hdl=10536/DRO/DU:30109156 | hdl-access=free }} [https://www.publish.csiro.au/pc/pdf/PC18006 PDF]</ref>

=== 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailyliberal.com.au/story/6721684/dubbo-zoo-welcomes-two-critically-endangered-chicks/|title=Dubbo Zoo welcomes two critically endangered chicks|date=2020-04-14|website=Daily Liberal|language=en|access-date=2020-04-17}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Pualco Range Conservation Park]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==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. {{doi|10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00098-8}}; {{PMID|13678682}} (HTML abstract).
* [[Charles Sibley|Sibley, Charles Gald]] & [[Jon Edward Ahlquist|Ahlquist, Jon Edward]] (1990): ''Phylogeny and classification of birds''. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.
* Thomas, Gavin H.; Wills, Matthew A. & Székely, Tamás (2004): [http://www.pubmedcentral.org/picrender.fcgi?artid=515296&blobtype=pdf "A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny"]. ''[[BMC journals|BMC Evol. Biol.]]'' '''4''': 28. {{doi|10.1186/1471-2148-4-28}}. {{PMID|15329156}}. [https://archive.today/20130802041856/http://www.pubmedcentral.org/articlerender.fcgi?artid=515296%23supplementary-material-sec Supplementary material].
* van Tuinen, Marcel; Waterhouse, David & Dyke, Gareth J. (2004): [http://www.stanford.edu/group/hadlylab/images/Lab%20Members/Marcel/JAB2004.PDF_1.pdf PDF "Avian molecular systematics on the rebound: a fresh look at modern shorebird phylogenetic relationships"]. ''Journal of Avian Biology'' '''35'''(3): 191–194.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Pedionomus torquatus}}
{{Wikispecies|Pedionomus torquatus}}
* {{EBirdSpecies|plawan1|Plains-wanderer}}

{{Charadriiformes|S.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q665606}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Birds described in 1841]]
[[Category:Birds of New South Wales]]
[[Category:Birds of Queensland]]
[[Category:Birds of South Australia]]
[[Category:Endangered fauna of Australia]]
[[Category:Endemic birds of Australia]]
[[Category:Taxa named by John Gould]]
[[Category:Thinocori]]