Rufous Fieldwren

The rufous fieldwren (Calamanthus campestris) also known as the desert wren or sandplain wren is a species of insectivorous bird in the family Acanthizidae, endemic to Australia. == Taxonomy == The rufous fieldwren is one of 63 species of the Australasian warbler family Acanthizidae, which includes gerygones, scrubwrens and thornbills. === Subspecies === Calamanthus campestris includes the following subspecies: C. c. winiam - (Campbell, AJ. & Campbell, AG., 1927) from southeastern Australian mallee. C. c. campestris - (Gould, 1841) from southern South Australia and Nullarbor Plain. C. c. rubiginosus - (Campbell, AJ., 1899) C. c. dorrie - (Mathews, 1912) C. c. hartogi - (Carter, 1916) C. c. wayensis - (Mathews, 1912) C. c. isabellinus - (North, 1896) C. c. montanellus (Milligan, 1903) There is both historical and contemporary contention to Calamanthus campestris montanellus' split from a subspecies of the rufous fieldwren to a taxonomically recognised species: the Western Fieldwren. The 1926 Royal Australasian Ornithological Union Checklist recognised four individual fieldwren species; the striated fieldwren (fuliginosus), the rufous fieldwren(campestris), the rusty fieldwren(isabellinus) and the rock fieldwren (montanellus). This was contended at the time by Mathews (1912), whose 'official' bird reference list documented just striated and rufous fieldwrens. The International Ornithological Committee's…