The western grasswren (''Amytornis textilis''), formerly known as the textile wren, is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family

Maluridae The Australasian wrens are a family, Maluridae, of small, insectivorous passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea. While commonly known as wrens, they are unrelated to the true wrens. The family comprises 32 species (including sixteen ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It was formerly lumped as the nominate subspecies of the

thick-billed grasswren The thick-billed grasswren (''Amytornis modestus'') is a species of bird in the family Maluridae. It is Endemism, endemic to Australia. Its natural habitat is Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation. ...

History

The species, indeed the genus, was first collected in 1818 on

Shark Bay Shark Bay () is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The area is located approximately north of Perth, on the westernmost point of the Australian continent. UNESCO's listing of Shark Bay as a World Heritage S ...

’s

Peron Peninsula Peron Peninsula () is a long narrow peninsula located in the Shark Bay World Heritage site in Western Australia, at about . It is some long, running north-northwesterly, located east of Henri Freycinet Harbour and west of Havre Hamelin and ...

, in northwest

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, by

Jean René Constant Quoy Jean René Constant Quoy (10 November 1790 in Maillé, Vendée, Maillé – 4 July 1869 in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, Rochefort) was a French naval surgeon, zoologist and anatomist. In 1806, he began his medical studies at the school of naval ...

and

Joseph Paul Gaimard Joseph Paul Gaimard (31 January 1793 – 10 December 1858) was a French naval surgeon and naturalist. Biography Gaimard was born at Saint-Zacharie on January 31, 1793. He studied medicine at the naval medical school in Toulon, subsequen ...

, naturalists with

Louis de Freycinet Louis Claude de Saulces de Freycinet (7 August 1779 – 18 August 1841) was a French Navy officer. He circumnavigated the Earth, and in 1811 published the first map to show a full outline of the coastline of Australia. Biography He was born at M ...

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first circumnaviga ...

al exploring expedition in the French corvette ''Uranie''. Although the original specimen was apparently lost with the shipwreck of the ''Uranie'' in the Falkland Islands, it had been illustrated by expedition artist

Jacques Arago Jacques Étienne Victor Arago (6 March 1790 – 27 November 1855) was a French writer, artist and explorer, author of a ''Voyage Round the World''. Biography Jacques was born in Estagel, Pyrénées-Orientales. He was the brother of François Ar ...

and was described (as ''Malurus textilis'') by Charles Dumont in 1824.

Description

A species of '' Amytornis'', the western grasswren is a small, shy, mainly terrestrial bird. It has brown plumage, finely streaked with black and white, and a long, slender tail. Males are slightly larger than females, with adult males weighing 22–27 g and females 20–25 g. Females develop distinctive chestnut patches on their flanks beneath their wings at 1–2 months old. They are usually found in groups of two or three.

Subspecies

Recognised subspecies are: *''Amytornis textilis textilis'' (Dumont, 1824) – (Shark Bay, WA) *†''A. textilis macrourus'' (

Gould Gould may refer to: People * Gould (name), a surname Places United States * Gould, Arkansas, a city * Gould, Colorado, an unincorporated community * Gould, Ohio, an unincorporated community * Gould, Oklahoma, a town * Gould, West Virginia, an ...

, 1847) – (formerly

Southwest Australia Southwest Australia is a biogeographic region in Western Australia. It includes the Mediterranean-climate area of southwestern Australia, which is home to a diverse and distinctive flora and fauna. The region is also known as the Southwest Au ...

, now extinct) *''A. textilis myall'' ( Mathews, 1916) – (

Gawler Ranges The Gawler Ranges are a range of stoney hills in South Australia to the north of the Eyre Peninsula. The Eyre Highway skirts the south of the ranges. The Gawler Ranges National Park is in the ranges north of Kimba, South Australia, Kimba and Wud ...

, SA) Other described subspecies of doubtful validity include: *†''A. textilis carteri'' (Mathews, 1917) – (

Dirk Hartog Island Dirk Hartog Island is an island off the Gascoyne (Western Australia), Gascoyne coast of Western Australia, within the Shark Bay, Western Australia, Shark Bay World Heritage Area. It is about long and between wide and is Western Australia's ...

, now extinct) *†''A. textilis gigantura'' ( Milligan, 1901) – (northern inland population of arid zone

chenopod Amaranthaceae ( ) is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus ''Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making ...

shrublands, now extinct)

Distribution and habitat

The species once occurred through much of southwestern Australia, with an outlying subspecies in the Gawler Ranges of South Australia. The range of the nominate subspecies, which used to inhabit inland locations, has contracted westwards to the

region since 1910. The cause is probably the decline in habitat quality resulting from

overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature ...

, which has reduced the availability of cover and nesting sites. Its preferred habitat is low, often ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

'' dominated,

semiarid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

, no more than a metre in height, that forms densely foliaged clumps and

thicket A thicket is a very dense stand of trees or tall shrubs, often dominated by only one or a few species, to the exclusion of all others. They may be formed by species that shed large numbers of highly viable seeds that are able to germinate in th ...

s. The Southwest Australian subspecies (''A. t. macrourus'') is now extinct. Its preferred habitat was dense thickets within a variety of

eucalypt Eucalypt is any woody plant with Capsule (fruit), capsule fruiting bodies belonging to one of seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australia: ''Eucalyptus'', ''Corymbia'', ''Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

communities A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place (geography), place, set of Norm (social), norms, culture, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Ide ...

Status and conservation

The population size of the nominate subspecies (''A. t. textilis'') has been estimated at 21,500 individuals occurring over an area of 20,000 km², with an area of occupancy of 1200 km². The population comprises a large subpopulation within

Francois Peron National Park Francois Peron National Park is a national park on the Peron Peninsula in Western Australia, north of Perth, and located within the boundary of the Shark Bay World Heritage area. The nearest towns to the park are Denham, which is found on the ...

and a second subpopulation consisting of several disjunct groups on nearby pastoral lands. Individuals from both populations were reintroduced to

in 2022. The generation length has been estimated at four years. Although the subspecies has suffered a severe reduction in range and population decline in the past, the remaining population is healthy and stable, and is not considered eligible for listing under Australia's

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cult ...

(EPBC). The Gawler Ranges subspecies (''A. t. myall'') has an estimated population of about 8400 mature individuals, with a range area of 12,000 km² and an area of occupancy of 600 km². Its generation length has been estimated at 9.7 years and the population trend is one of decrease.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1210117

western grasswren The western grasswren (''Amytornis textilis''), formerly known as the textile wren, is a species of bird in the family Maluridae. It is Endemism, endemic to Australia. It was formerly lumping and splitting, lumped as the nominate subspecies of th ...

Birds of South Australia Birds of Western Australia Endemic birds of Australia