The mukarrthippi grasswren may be Australia's rarest bird and I am obsessed with it | Virginia Merange in #birdoftheyear

It's believed there are fewer than 20 of these 'little birds of the spinifex' - and their future hangs in the balanceCast your vote in the Australian bird of the year poll todayKeep up with all our bird of the year contentIt's hard to say precisely when I became a card-carrying bird nerd. Perhaps it was when I began keeping a pair of binoculars in my bag (you know, "just in case"). Maybe the time I taught bush kinder children the local bird calls so we could chat to our feathery friends out on country. Most likely though it was the point at which I became hopelessly obsessed with a little bird named mukarrthippi and its entanglement with my family history.Mukarrthippi (pronounced mook-waa-tippy) captured my heart, not just because of its charismatic rufous-brown eyebrows, alert upturned tail and striking white streaked body, but also for the rather dubious honour it holds of potentially being Australia's rarest bird. A recent survey estimates that fewer than 20 individuals exist in the world, most of whom reside in a single small area of sandhill in what is now known as Yathong Nature Reserve.Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Continue reading...