CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · Science & Nature

Spinifexbird

species of bird

Specimen drawers, botanical folios and brass scientific instruments under study light
Science and natureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionOct 5, 2025
Entity authorityQ26935238 ↗
Source-derived summary

The spinifexbird (Poodytes carteri) is endemic to inland Australia. 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. Both sexes are alike.

Behaviour

Its diet comprises a variety of insects and seeds 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. 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.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Spinifexbird” is species of bird. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Spinifexbird, species and bird, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewUseful for establishing the present vocabulary of the subject while preserving a route back to the evidence on which that vocabulary rests. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1887, 1928—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Spinifexbird, species and bird is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “species of bird” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 5, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q26935238. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1887 and 1928.

Critical limits

A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
Verify next

Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Spinifexbird”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Spinifexbird primary sources, Spinifexbird archive and Spinifexbird research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Spinifexbird”?
  2. Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
  3. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Spinifexbird” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.