Superb fairywren

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Superb fairywren
Malurus cyaneus cyanochlamys .jpg
Male in breeding plumage
subspecies cyanochlamys
Female superb fairy wren-edit1.jpg
Female – Victorian High Country
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Maluridae
Genus: Malurus
Species:
M. cyaneus
Binomial name
Malurus cyaneus
(Ellis, 1782)
Subspecies

6, see text

Malurus cyaneus IUCN 2016.svg
Superb fairywren range
Synonyms
  • Motacilla cyanea

The superb fairywren (Malurus cyaneus) is a passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae, and is common and familiar across south-eastern Australia. It is a sedentary and territorial species, also exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism; the male in breeding plumage has a striking bright blue forehead, ear coverts, mantle, and tail, with a black mask and black or dark blue throat. Non-breeding males, females and juveniles are predominantly grey-brown in colour; this gave the early impression that males were polygamous, as all dull-coloured birds were taken for females. Six subspecies groups are recognized: three larger and darker forms from Tasmania, Flinders and King Island respectively, and three smaller and paler forms from mainland Australia and Kangaroo Island.

Contents

Like other fairywrens, the superb fairywren is notable for several peculiar behavioural characteristics; the birds are socially monogamous and sexually promiscuous, meaning that although they form pairs between one male and one female, each partner will mate with other individuals and even assist in raising the young from such pairings. Male wrens pluck yellow petals and display them to females as part of a courtship display.

The superb fairywren can be found in almost any area that has at least a little dense undergrowth for shelter, including grasslands with scattered shrubs, moderately thick forest, woodland, heaths, and domestic gardens. It has adapted well to the urban environment and is common in suburban Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane. The superb fairywren eats mostly insects and supplements its diet with seeds.

The superb fairywren was named 'Australian Bird of the Year' for 2021, after a survey conducted by Birdlife Australia saw the species narrowly defeat the tawny frogmouth with a margin of 666 votes (over 400,000 votes were cast in total). [2]

Taxonomy and systematics

The superb fairywren is one of eleven species of the genus Malurus , commonly known as fairywrens, found in Australia and lowland New Guinea. [3] Within the genus, the superb fairywren's closest relative is the splendid fairywren; these two "blue wrens" are also related to the purple-crowned fairywren of northwestern Australia. [4]

William Anderson, surgeon and naturalist on Captain James Cook's third voyage, collected the first superb fairywren specimen in 1777 while traveling off the coast of eastern Tasmania, in Bruny Island's Adventure Bay. He classified it in the genus Motacilla because its tail reminded him of the European wagtails. Anderson did not live to publish his findings, although his assistant William Ellis described the bird in 1782. [5] The genus Malurus was later described by Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1816, giving the bird its current scientific name. [6]

Shortly after the First Fleet's arrival at Port Jackson, Sydney, the bird gained the common name superb warbler. [7] In the 1920s came common names wren and wren-warbler—both from its similarity to the European wren—and fairywren. [8] The bird has also been called Mormon wren, a reference to observations of one blue-plumaged bird accompanied by many brown-plumaged birds, which were incorrectly assumed to be all female. [5] The Ngarrindjeri people of the Murray River and Coorong regions call it waatji pulyeri, meaning "little one of the waatji (lignum) bush", [9] and the Gunai call it deeydgun, meaning "little bird with long tail". [10] Both it and the variegated fairywren are known as muruduwin to the local Eora and Darug inhabitants of the Sydney basin. [11] Other alternative names for the superb fairywren include the Australian fairywren, blue wren, superb blue fairywren, and superb blue wren.

Like other fairywrens, the superb fairywren is unrelated to the true wren. It was previously classified as a member of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae [12] [13] and later as a member of the warbler family Sylviidae [14] before being placed in the newly recognised Maluridae in 1975. [15] More recently, DNA analysis has shown the family Maluridae to be related to the Meliphagidae (honeyeaters), and the Pardalotidae (pardalotes, scrubwrens, thornbills, gerygones and allies) in the large superfamily Meliphagoidea. [16] [17] To help resolve this a high-quality 1.07‐Gb reference genome was sequenced in 2019. [18]

Subspecies

Six subspecies are currently recognized: [19]

Evolutionary history

In his 1982 monograph, Schodde proposed a southern origin for the common ancestor of the superb and splendid fairywrens. [21] At some time in the past it was split into south-western (splendid) and south-eastern (superb) enclaves. As the southwest was drier than the southeast, once conditions were more favourable, the splendid forms were more able to spread into inland areas. In the east, the superb fairywren spread into Tasmania during a glacial period when the sea level was low and the island was connected with the rest of the continent via a land bridge. This gave rise to the subspecies cyaneus as it became isolated when the sea levels rose. The Bass Strait forms were isolated from Tasmania more recently and so their subspecific status was not maintained. [21] A 2017 genetic study using both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA found the ancestors of the superb and splendid fairywrens diverged from each other around 4 million years ago, and their common ancestor diverged around 7 million years ago from a lineage that gave rise to the white-shouldered, white-winged and red-backed fairywrens. [27]

Description

A pair in Ensay, Victoria, Australia Male and female superb fairy wren.jpg
A pair in Ensay, Victoria, Australia
An immature male in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Young males usually develop a dark bill and blue tail before their first winter. Malurus cyaneus -Cape Liptrap, Gippsland, Victoria, Australia-8.jpg
An immature male in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Young males usually develop a dark bill and blue tail before their first winter.

The superb fairywren is 14 cm (5+1⁄2 in) long [29] and weighs 8–13 g (0.28–0.46 oz), [30] with males on average slightly larger than females. [31] The average tail length is 5.9 cm (2+1⁄3 in), [32] among the shortest in the genus. [33] Averaging 9 mm (0.4 in) in subspecies cyaneus and 8 mm (0.3 in) in subspecies cyanochlamys, [30] the bill is relatively long, narrow and pointed and wider at the base. Wider than it is deep, the bill is similar in shape to those of other birds that feed by probing for or picking insects off their environs. [34]

Like other fairywrens, the superb fairywren is notable for its marked sexual dimorphism, males adopting a highly visible breeding plumage of brilliant iridescent blue contrasting with black and grey-brown. The brightly coloured crown and ear tufts are prominently featured in breeding displays. [35] The breeding male has a bright-blue forehead, ear coverts, mantle and tail, brown wings, and black throat, eye band, breast and bill. Females, immatures, and non-breeding males are a plain fawn colour with a lighter underbelly and a fawn (females and immatures) or dull greyish blue (males) tail. The bill is brown in females and juveniles [29] and black in males after their first winter. [36] Immature males moult into breeding plumage the first breeding season after hatching, though incomplete moulting sometimes leaves residual brownish plumage that takes another year or two to perfect. [37] Both sexes moult in autumn after breeding, with males assuming an eclipse non-breeding plumage. They moult again into nuptial plumage in winter or spring. [36] Breeding males' blue plumage, particularly the ear-coverts, is highly iridescent because of the flattened and twisted surface of the barbules. [38] The blue plumage also reflects ultraviolet light strongly, and so may be even more prominent to other fairywrens, whose colour vision extends into this part of the spectrum. [39]

Vocalisations

Vocal communication among superb fairywrens is used primarily for communication between birds in a social group and for advertising and mobbing, or defending a territory. [40] The basic, or Type I, song is a 1–4 second high-pitched reel consisting of 10–20 short elements per second; it is sung by both males and females. [41] Males also possess a peculiar song-like Type II vocalization, which is given in response to the calls of predatory birds, commonly grey butcherbirds. [42] The purpose of this behaviour, which does not elicit a response from other nearby wrens, remains unknown. It is not a warning call, but in fact gives away the location of the vocalizing male to the predator. It may serve to announce male fitness, but this is far from certain. [43] The superb fairywrens' alarm call is a series of brief sharp chits, universally given and understood by small birds in response to predators. Females also emit a purr while incubating. [30] The bird appears to also use vocalisations as a password for its chicks to give it a chance to avoid cuckoo parasites. [44]

Distribution and habitat

At Samsonvale Cemetery, SE Queensland

The superb fairywren is common throughout most of the relatively wet and fertile south-eastern corner of the continent, from the south-east of South Australia (including Kangaroo Island and Adelaide) and the tip of the Eyre Peninsula, through all of Victoria, Tasmania, coastal and sub-coastal New South Wales and Queensland, through the Brisbane area and extending inland – north to the Dawson River and west to Blackall; it is a common bird in the suburbs of Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. [30] It is found in wooded areas, generally with plenty of undergrowth, and has also adapted to urban existence and can be found in gardens and urban parks as long as there is an undergrowth of native plants nearby. [45] Lantana ( Lantana camara ), a prolific weed in Australia, has also been beneficial in providing shelter in disturbed areas, [30] as has the introduced and invasive blackberry [46] Unlike other fairywrens, it appears to benefit from the urban environment and has out-competed the introduced house sparrow in one study on the grounds of the Australian National University in Canberra. [47] Colonies of wrens can be found in Hyde Park and the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney's urbanized centre. [48] It is not found in dense forest nor in alpine environments. [49] Forestry plantations of pine and eucalypts are also unsuitable as they lack undergrowth. [50]

Behaviour

First-year male starting to moult into breeding plumage subspecies cyaneus Immature male superb fairy wren moulting.jpg
First-year male starting to moult into breeding plumage
subspecies cyaneus

Like all fairywrens, the superb fairywren is an active and restless feeder, particularly on open ground near shelter, but also through the lower foliage. Movement is a series of jaunty hops and bounces, [51] with its balance assisted by a proportionally large tail, which is usually held upright, and rarely still. The short, rounded wings provide good initial lift and are useful for short flights, though not for extended jaunts. [52] During spring and summer, birds are active in bursts through the day and accompany their foraging with song. Insects are numerous and easy to catch, which allows the birds to rest between forays. The group often shelters and rests together during the heat of the day. Food is harder to find during winter and they are required to spend the day foraging continuously. [53]

The superb fairywren is a cooperative breeding species, with pairs or groups of 3–5 birds maintaining and defending small territories year-round. [54] [55] The group consists of a social pair with one or more male or female helper birds that were hatched in the territory, though they may not necessarily be the offspring of the main pair. These birds assist in defending the territory and feeding and rearing the young. [56] Birds in a group roost side-by-side in dense cover as well as engaging in mutual preening. [54]

Major nest predators include Australian magpies, butcherbirds, laughing kookaburra, currawongs, crows and ravens, shrike-thrushes as well as introduced mammals such as the red fox, cat and black rat. [57] Superb fairywrens may utilise a 'rodent-run' display to distract predators from nests with young birds. The head, neck and tail are lowered, wings held out and feathers fluffed as the bird runs rapidly and voices a continuous alarm call. [58] A field study in Canberra found that superb fairywrens that lived in areas frequented by noisy miners recognised miner alarm calls and took flight, and had learnt to ignore their non-alarm calls, while those that live in areas not frequented by noisy miners did not respond to miner alarm calls. This suggests the species has adapted and learned to discriminate and respond to another species' vocalisations. [59]

Courtship

Male subspecies cyanochlamys with face fan display Superb Fairy-wren facefan hunter 1 smaller.jpg
Male subspecies cyanochlamys with face fan display

Several courtship displays by superb fairywren males have been recorded. The 'sea horse flight', named for its seahorse-like undulations, is one such display. During this exaggerated flight, the male—with his neck extended and his head feathers erect—tilts his body from horizontal to vertical, and descends slowly and springs upwards by rapidly beating his wings after alighting on the ground. [60] The 'face fan' display may be seen as a part of aggressive or sexual display behaviours; it involves the flaring of the blue ear tufts by erecting the feathers. [61]

During the reproductive season, males of this and other fairywren species pluck yellow petals, which contrast with their plumage, and show them to female fairywrens. The petals often form part of a courtship display and are presented to a female in the male fairywren's own or another territory. Males sometimes show petals to females in other territories even outside the breeding season, presumably to promote themselves. [62] Fairywrens are socially monogamous and sexually promiscuous: pairs will bond for life, [63] though both males and females will regularly mate with other individuals; a proportion of young will have been fathered by males from outside the group. Young are often raised not by the pair alone, but with other males who also mated with the pair's female assisting. [64]

Breeding

Female with juvenile begging for food, Northern Beaches, Sydney Superb Fairy Wrens - Northern Beaches 2006 018b.JPG
Female with juvenile begging for food, Northern Beaches, Sydney

Breeding occurs from spring through to late summer; the nest is a round or domed structure made of loosely woven grasses and spider webs, with an entrance in one side generally close to the ground, under 1 m (3.3 ft), and in thick vegetation. Two or more broods may be laid in an extended breeding season. A clutch of three or four matte white eggs with reddish-brown splotches and spots, measuring 12 mm × 16 mm (0.47 in × 0.63 in). [65] The eggs are incubated for 14 days, after which they hatch within 24 hours. Newborn chicks are blind, red and featherless, though quickly darken as feathers grow. Their eyes open by day five or six and are fully feathered by day 10. All group members feed and remove fecal sacs for 10–14 days. Fledglings are able to feed themselves by day 40 but remain in the family group as helpers for a year or more before moving to another group or assuming a dominant position in the original group. In this role they feed and care for subsequent broods and repel cuckoos or predators. [66] Superb fairywrens also commonly play host to the brood parasite Horsfield's bronze cuckoo and, less commonly, the shining bronze cuckoo and fan-tailed cuckoo. [67]

Diet

Female, subspecies cyanochlamys, with a grasshopper Superb Wren female444.jpg
Female, subspecies cyanochlamys, with a grasshopper

Superb fairywrens are predominantly insectivorous. They eat a wide range of small creatures (mostly insects such as ants, grasshoppers, shield bugs, flies, weevils and various larvae) as well as small quantities of seeds, flowers, and fruit. [54] [68] Their foraging, termed 'hop-searching', occurs on the ground or in shrubs that are less than two metres high. [54] Because this foraging practice renders them vulnerable to predators, birds tend to stick fairly close to cover and forage in groups. During winter, when food may be scarce, ants are an important 'last resort' food, constituting a much higher proportion of the diet. [69] Nestlings, in contrast to adult birds, are fed a diet of larger items such as caterpillars and grasshoppers. [70]

Cultural depictions

The superb fairywren breeding male is used as an emblem by the Bird Observation & Conservation Australia. [71] On 12 August 1999, a superb fairywren was mistakenly illustrated for an Australia Post 45c pre-stamped envelope meant to depict a splendid fairywren. [72] Called the blue wren as it was then known, it had previously featured on a 2s.5d. stamp, released in 1964, which was discontinued with the advent of decimal currency. [73]

Notes

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2016). "Malurus cyaneus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22703736A93934554. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22703736A93934554.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "Superb fairywren crowned 2021 Australian bird of the year winner in hotly contested vote". the Guardian. 2021-10-08. Retrieved 2021-10-24.
  3. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 143.
  4. ↑ Christidis, Les; Schodde, Richard (1997). "Relationships within the Australo-Papuan Fairy-wrens (Aves: Malurinae): an evaluation of the utility of allozyme data". Australian Journal of Zoology. 45 (2): 113–29. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.694.5285 . doi:10.1071/ZO96068.
  5. 1 2 Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 8.
  6. ↑ Vieillot, Louis Pierre (1816). Analyse d'une Nouvelle Ornithologie Élémentaire. p.  69.
  7. 1 2 3 Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 145.
  8. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 3.
  9. ↑ Department of Education and Children's Services – Government of South Australia (2007). "Aboriginal perspectives in science". Aboriginal Education & Employment Services. Department of Education and Children's Services – Government of South Australia. Archived from the original on March 9, 2006. Retrieved 21 September 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. ↑ Wesson S (2001). Aboriginal flora and fauna names of Victoria: As extracted from early surveyors' reports (PDF). Melbourne: Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages. ISBN   0-9579360-0-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 21 September 2007.
  11. ↑ Troy, Jakelin (1993). The Sydney language. Canberra: Jakelin Troy. p. 55. ISBN   978-0-646-11015-8.
  12. ↑ Sharpe, Richard Bowdler (1879). Catalogue of the Passeriformes, or perching birds, in the collection of the British museum. Cichlomorphae, part 1. London, United Kingdom: Trustees of the British Museum.
  13. ↑ Sharpe, Richard Bowdler (1883). Catalogue of the Passeriformes, or perching birds, in the collection of the British museum. Cichlomorphae, part 4. London, United Kingdom: Trustees of the British Museum.
  14. ↑ Sharpe, Richard Bowdler (1903). A handlist of the genera and species of birds Vol. 4. London, United Kingdom: British Museum.
  15. ↑ Schodde, Richard (1975). Interim List of Australian Songbirds: passerines. Melbourne, Victoria: RAOU. OCLC   3546788.
  16. ↑ Barker, F.K.; Barrowclough, G.F.; Groth, J.G. (2002). "A phylogenetic hypothesis for passerine birds; Taxonomic and biogeographic implications of an analysis of nuclear DNA sequence data". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences. 269 (1488): 295–308. doi:10.1098/rspb.2001.1883. PMC   1690884 . PMID   11839199.
  17. ↑ Barker, F.Keith; Cibois, Alice; Schikler, Peter; Feinstein, Julie; Cracraft, Joel (2004). "Phylogeny and diversification of the largest avian radiation". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 101 (30): 11040–45. Bibcode:2004PNAS..10111040B. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0401892101 . PMC   503738 . PMID   15263073.
  18. ↑ Peñalba, Joshua V.; Deng, Yuan; Fang, Qi; Joseph, Leo; Moritz, Craig; Cockburn, Andrew (2020). "Genome of an iconic Australian bird: High-quality assembly and linkage map of the superb fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus)". Molecular Ecology Resources. 20 (2): 560–578. doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.13124 . hdl: 1885/206161 . ISSN   1755-0998. PMID   31821695.
  19. ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2017). "Lyrebirds, scrubbirds, bowerbirds & Australasian wrens". World Bird List Version 7.3. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 2 Dec 2017.
  20. ↑ Ellis, William W. (1782). An authentic narrative of a voyage performed by Captain Cook and Capt. Clarke in His Majesty's Ships Resolution and Discovery during the years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779 and 1780: Vol 1. London, United Kingdom: G. Robinson, J. Sewell and J. Debrett.
  21. 1 2 3 Schodde, Richard (1982). The Fairy-wrens: A Monograph of the Maluridae. Melbourne, Victoria: Landsdowne Press. ISBN   978-0-7018-1051-1.
  22. ↑ Campbell, Archibald James (1901). "On a new species of blue wren from King Island, Bass Strait". Ibis. 8 (1): 10–11. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1901.tb07517.x.
  23. 1 2 3 Schodde, Richard; Mason, Ian J. (1999). The Directory of Australian Birds: Passerines. A Taxonomic and Zoogeographic Atlas of the Biodiversity of Birds in Australia and its Territories. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing. pp. 90–93. ISBN   9780643102934.
  24. ↑ Sharpe, Richard Bowdler (1881). "Untitled". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1881: 788.
  25. 1 2 Mathews, Gregory M. (1912). "A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia". Novitates Zoologicae. 18: 171–455 [358]. doi: 10.5962/bhl.part.1694 .
  26. ↑ Schlotfeldt, Beth E.; Kleindorfer, Sonia (2006). "Adaptive divergence in the Superb Fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus): a mainland versus island comparison of morphology and foraging behaviour". Emu. 106 (3): 309–19. doi:10.1071/MU06004. S2CID   44084436.
  27. ↑ Marki, Petter Z.; Jønsson, Knud A.; Irestedt, Martin; Nguyen, Jacqueline M. T.; Rahbek, Carsten; Fjeldså, Jon (2017). "Supermatrix phylogeny and biogeography of the Australasian Meliphagides radiation (Aves: Passeriformes)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 107: 516–29. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2016.12.021. hdl: 10852/65203 . PMID   28017855.
  28. ↑ Pizzey, Graham (1980). "513 Superb Blue Wren". A Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. Illustrated by Doyle, Roy. Collins. p.  278. ISBN   978-0-00-217282-0.
  29. 1 2 Simpson, Ken; Day, Nicholas; Trusler, Peter (1993). Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. Ringwood, Victoria: Viking O'Neil. p. 392. ISBN   978-0-670-90478-5.
  30. 1 2 3 4 5 Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 146.
  31. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 39.
  32. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 33.
  33. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 36.
  34. ↑ Wooller, Ron D. (1984). "Bill size and shape in honeyeaters and other small insectivorous birds in Western Australia". Australian Journal of Zoology. 32 (5): 657–62. doi:10.1071/ZO9840657.
  35. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, pp. 43–44.
  36. 1 2 Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 144.
  37. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 45.
  38. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 44.
  39. ↑ Bennett, A.T.D.; Cuthill, I.C. (1994). "Ultraviolet vision in birds: what is its function?". Vision Research. 34 (11): 1471–78. doi:10.1016/0042-6989(94)90149-X. PMID   8023459. S2CID   38220252.
  40. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 63.
  41. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, pp. 65–66.
  42. ↑ Langmore, Naomi E.; Mulder, Raoul A. (1992). "A novel context for bird vocalization: predator calls prompt male singing in the kleptogamous superb fairy-wren, Malurus cyaneus". Ethology . 90 (2): 143–53. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1992.tb00828.x.
  43. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 68.
  44. ↑ Colombelli-Negrel; Hauber; Robertson; Sulloway; Hoi; Griggio; Kleindorfer (2012). "Embryonic Learning of Vocal Passwords in Superb Fairy-Wrens Reveals Intruder Cuckoo Nestlings". Current Biology. 22 (22): 2155–2160. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.09.025 . PMID   23142041.
  45. ↑ Parsons, H.; French, K.; Major, R.E. (October 2008). "The vegetation requirements of Superb Fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus) in non-urban edge and urbanised habitats". Emu. 108 (4): 283–91. doi:10.1071/MU07060. S2CID   31841749.
  46. ↑ Nias, R.C. (1984). "Territory quality and group size in the Superb Fairywren Malurus cyaneus". Emu. 84 (3): 178–80. doi:10.1071/MU9840178.
  47. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 137.
  48. ↑ Roberts, Peter (1993). Birdwatcher's Guide to the Sydney Region. Kenthurst, New South Wales: Kangaroo Press. p. 131. ISBN   978-0-86417-565-6.
  49. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, pp. 147–48.
  50. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 134.
  51. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 42.
  52. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 41.
  53. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, pp. 61–62.
  54. 1 2 3 4 Rowley, Ian (1965). "The Life History of the Superb Blue Wren". Emu. 64 (4): 251–97. doi:10.1071/MU964251.
  55. ↑ Nias, R.C.; Ford, H.A. (1992). "The Influence of group size and habitat on reproductive success in the Superb Fairy-wren Malurus cyaneus". Emu. 92 (4): 238–43. doi:10.1071/MU9920238.
  56. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 99.
  57. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 121.
  58. ↑ Rowley, Ian (1962). "'Rodent-run' distraction display by a passerine, the Superb Blue Wren Malurus cyaneus (L.)". Behaviour. 19 (1–2): 170–76. doi:10.1163/156853961X00240.
  59. ↑ Magrath, Robert D.; Bennett, Thomas H. (2011). "A Micro-geography of Fear: Learning to Eavesdrop on Alarm Calls of Neighbouring Heterospecifics". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 279 (1730): 902–09. doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.1362. PMC   3259928 . PMID   21849313.
  60. ↑ Loaring, W.H. (1948). "Splendid Wren with flower petal". Emu . 48 (2): 163–64. doi:10.1071/MU948158f.
  61. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 76.
  62. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 75.
  63. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 79.
  64. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 89.
  65. ↑ Beruldsen, Gordon (2003). Australian Birds: Their Nests and Eggs. Kenmore Hills, Queensland: self. p. 280. ISBN   978-0-646-42798-0.
  66. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 149.
  67. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, pp. 118–19.
  68. ↑ Barker, Robin; Vestjens, Wilhelmus (1990). Food of Australian Birds: Vol. 2 – Passerines. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO. p. 557. ISBN   978-0-643-05115-7.
  69. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, pp. 49–52.
  70. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 53.
  71. ↑ Bird Observation & Conservation Australia (2005). "Home Page – Bird Observation & Conservation Australia". Bird Observation & Conservation Australia. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2007-10-13.
  72. ↑ Australia Post Philatelic Group (October–December 1999). "Note: Birds error". Stamp Bulletin (252): 17.
  73. ↑ Breckon, Richard (February 2006). "Australia's Decimal Currency Stamps 1966". Gibbons Stamp Monthly. Stanley Gibbons Ltd. Archived from the original on 24 June 2006. Retrieved 13 October 2007.

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The splendid fairywren is a passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is also known simply as the splendid wren or more colloquially in Western Australia as the blue wren. The splendid fairywren is found across much of the Australian continent from central-western New South Wales and southwestern Queensland over to coastal Western Australia. It inhabits predominantly arid and semi-arid regions. Exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism, the male in breeding plumage is a small, long-tailed bird of predominantly bright blue and black colouration. Non-breeding males, females and juveniles are predominantly grey-brown in colour; this gave the early impression that males were polygamous as all dull-coloured birds were taken for females. It comprises several similar all-blue and black subspecies that were originally considered separate species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horsfield's bronze cuckoo</span> Species of bird

Horsfield's bronze cuckoo is a small cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. Its size averages 22g and is distinguished by its green and bronze iridescent colouring on its back and incomplete brown barring from neck to tail. Horsfield's bronze cuckoo can be destiguished from other bronze cuckoos by its white eyebrow and brown eye stripe. The Horsfield's bronze cuckoo is common throughout Australia preferring the drier open woodlands away from forested areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dusky grasswren</span> Species of bird

The dusky grasswren is a species of small passerine bird in the family Maluridae. The species is endemic to Australia but is limited to inland areas of the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orange-crowned fairywren</span> Species of bird

The orange-crowned fairywren is a species of passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is monotypic within the genus Clytomyias. It is found on New Guinea in its natural habitat of subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-shouldered fairywren</span> Species of bird

The white-shouldered fairywren is a species of bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is found in New Guinea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lovely fairywren</span> Species of bird

The lovely fairywren, or lovely wren, is a species of bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is endemic to northeastern Australia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purple-crowned fairywren</span> Species of songbird endemic to northern Australia in the family Maluridae

The purple-crowned fairywren is a species of bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is the largest of the eleven species in the genus Malurus and is endemic to northern Australia. The species name is derived from the Latin word cǒrōna meaning "crown", owing to the distinctive purple circle of crown feathers sported by breeding males. Genetic evidence shows that the purple-crowned fairywren is most closely related to the superb fairywren and splendid fairywren. Purple-crowned fairywrens can be distinguished from other fairywrens in northern Australia by the presence of cheek patches and the deep blue colour of their perky tails.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emperor fairywren</span> Species of bird

The emperor fairywren is a species of bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is found in New Guinea in its natural habitat of subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is the largest species of fairywren. It is highly sexually dimorphic. Males have a blue and black plumage, with the females having blue and black plumage only on their heads, with the rest of the body being coloured a rusty brown and having a black tail tipped with white. There are 3 recognized subspecies of the emperor fairywren, one from north and northwestern New Guinea, one from Biak Island, and one from south New Guinea and the Aru Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red-winged fairywren</span> Passerine bird in the Australasian wren family

The red-winged fairywren is a species of passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is non-migratory and endemic to the southwestern corner of Western Australia. Exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism, the male adopts a brilliantly coloured breeding plumage, with an iridescent silvery-blue crown, ear coverts and upper back, red shoulders, contrasting with a black throat, grey-brown tail and wings and pale underparts. Non-breeding males, females and juveniles have predominantly grey-brown plumage, though males may bear isolated blue and black feathers. No separate subspecies are recognised. Similar in appearance and closely related to the variegated fairywren and the blue-breasted fairywren, it is regarded as a separate species as no intermediate forms have been recorded where their ranges overlap. Though the red-winged fairywren is locally common, there is evidence of a decline in numbers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-winged fairywren</span> Australian species of bird

The white-winged fairywren is a species of passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It lives in the drier parts of Central Australia; from central Queensland and South Australia across to Western Australia. Like other fairywrens, this species displays marked sexual dimorphism and one or more males of a social group grow brightly coloured plumage during the breeding season. The female is sandy-brown with light-blue tail feathers; it is smaller than the male, which, in breeding plumage, has a bright-blue body, black bill, and white wings. Younger sexually mature males are almost indistinguishable from females and are often the breeding males. In spring and summer, a troop of white-winged fairywrens has a brightly coloured older male accompanied by small, inconspicuous brown birds, many of which are also male. Three subspecies are recognised. Apart from the mainland subspecies, one is found on Dirk Hartog Island, and another on Barrow Island off the coast of Western Australia. Males from these islands have black rather than blue breeding plumage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red-backed fairywren</span> Passerine bird in the Australasian wren family

The red-backed fairywren is a species of passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is endemic to Australia and can be found near rivers and coastal areas along the northern and eastern coastlines from the Kimberley in the northwest to the Hunter Region in New South Wales. The male adopts a striking breeding plumage, with a black head, upperparts and tail, and a brightly coloured red back and brown wings. The female has brownish upperparts and paler underparts. The male in eclipse plumage and the juvenile resemble the female. Some males remain in non-breeding plumage while breeding. Two subspecies are recognised; the nominate M. m.melanocephalus of eastern Australia has a longer tail and orange back, and the short-tailed M. m. cruentatus from northern Australia has a redder back.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue-breasted fairywren</span> Species of bird

The blue-breasted fairywren, or blue-breasted wren, is a species of passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is non-migratory and endemic to southern Western Australia and the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. Exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism, the male adopts a brilliantly coloured breeding plumage, with a bright blue crown, ear coverts and upper back, red shoulders, contrasting with a dark blue throat, grey-brown tail and wings and pale underparts. Non-breeding males, females and juveniles have predominantly grey-brown plumage. No separate subspecies are recognised.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallace's fairywren</span> Species of bird

Wallace's fairywren is a species of bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is the only species within the genus Sipodotus. It is found in New Guinea and the Aru Islands, where its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern emu-wren</span> Species of bird

The southern emu-wren is a species of bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, and swamplands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emu-wren</span> Genus of birds

The emu-wrens (Stipiturus) are a genus of passerine birds in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. They are found only in Australia, where they inhabit scrub, heathland and grassland. They are small birds, 12–19 cm long with the tail accounting for over half of their length. The tail has only six feathers which are loose and coarse in structure, rather like the feathers of the emu. Three species are recognised, of which the mallee emu-wren is endangered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mallee emu-wren</span> Species of bird

The mallee emu-wren is a species of bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is endemic to Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rufous-crowned emu-wren</span> Species of bird

The rufous-crowned emu-wren is a species of bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is endemic to Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purple-backed fairywren</span> Species of bird

The purple-backed fairywren is a fairywren that is native to Australia. Described by Alfred John North in 1901, it has four recognised subspecies. In a species that exhibits sexual dimorphism, the brightly coloured breeding male has chestnut shoulders and azure crown and ear coverts, while non-breeding males, females and juveniles have predominantly grey-brown plumage, although females of two subspecies have mainly blue-grey plumage. Distributed over much of the Australian continent, the purple-backed fairywren is found in scrubland with plenty of vegetation providing dense cover.

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