Derivation
E-rëm'-i-örn'-is - Gk, eremia, desert; Gk, ornis, bird: carteri - Thomas Carter (1863 - 1931), ornithologist, WA who discovered and collected the first example
Habitat
Mainly in tall dense spinifex grasslands or savanna woodland with a spinifex understorey, including hills, ranges and rocky escarpments, and flats at the foot of gravelly and stoney rises.
Australia: very patchily from coastal Western Australia (including some islands) east in arid uplands (in band between 19° south and 26° south) to western and central Queensland.
Northern Australia, from Cloncurry, Qld to the Fitzroy River, WA, and south to the Minilya River and Alice Springs, NT.
Habits
Usually singly or in pairs, occasionally in small, probably family, groups.
Food
Insects, mainly beetles and grasshoppers. Occasionally seeds.
Voice
Loud, repeated, 'cherry-wheat', somewhat like a Stubble Quail (Coturnix pectoralis). Also 'cheerit', repeated about every 3 seconds, followed by a repeated, descending 'cheeroo'. A sharp 'tk!' uttered in alarm.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet