[4] A ground-feeding bird that is usually only evident while foraging, Cinclosoma alisteri actively moves over a range, although in a haphazard manner, turning stones in search of seeds and small invertebrates.

This quail-thrush is able to see anything approaching for a considerable distance on the plains, and will quickly seek refuge beneath a shrub or in the burrows created by the introduced rabbit.

The site selected for breeding may be a slight depression scraped into the earth by the female, but is often against a bush, rock, or patch of grass and lined with strips of plant material.

[4] The range is restricted to the Nullarbor Plain, an area in southern Australia that extends across the Western and South Australian border.

The habitat favoured by this species is described as limestone gibber plains, containing little overlying vegetation, and shrub-dominated plant communities on the steppe.