The spinifexbird (''Poodytes carteri'') is endemic to inland

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Also known as Carter's desertbird, it is named after Thomas Carter, an English ornithologist and pastoralist active in Western Australia from 1887 to 1928.

Description

It has a rich brown cap, golden brown streaked wings, and a long

tail The tail is the section at the rear end of certain kinds of animals’ bodies; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammals, r ...

. Both sexes are alike.

Behaviour

Its diet comprises a variety of

insects Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...

and

seeds A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosperm pl ...

collected in "spinifex" or '' Triodia'' grass. This species flies weakly, with its tail drooping. It tends to be solitary and sedentary. The breeding season of the spinifexbird stretches from August to November. Its nest is a shallow cup built in clumps of ''Triodia'' grass close to the ground, usually with a clutch of two

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

. Not globally threatened, the species may be common in suitable habitats, although it is rarely seen due to the remote and arid nature of its

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

References

Poodytes Endemic birds of Australia Birds described in 1900 Taxa named by Alfred John North Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Locustellidae-stub