The Plains-wanderer is a small ground-dwelling bird of scattered grasslands in southeastern Australia. It forages by day for seeds and small ground-dwelling animals.
It is a small ground-dwelling bird whose dappled plumage blends into grassland. Females are larger and more colorful than males.
By day it walks on the ground to find seeds and ground-dwelling invertebrates. Females court males; males incubate the eggs and care for the chicks.
The nest is a shallow, grass-lined ground scrape beneath a grass tuft, usually with four eggs. The male incubates for 23 days, and downy chicks can run soon after hatching.
It eats grass and saltbush seeds and ground-dwelling arthropods such as beetles, ants, bugs and caterpillars. Insects become a more important part of the diet in spring.
Males have mottled, streaked and scalloped brown plumage. Females have a checkered black-and-white collar bordered below by a rufous band. The bill and legs are yellow and there is a small hind toe.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.