Variegated fairywren

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Variegated fairywren
Variegated Fairy-wren - Kurnell (cropped).jpg
Male in breeding plumage
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Maluridae
Genus: Malurus
Species:
M. lamberti
Binomial name
Malurus lamberti
Vigors & Horsfield, 1827
Malurus lamberti distribution map.svg

The variegated fairywren (Malurus lamberti) is a fairywren that lives in eastern Australia. 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.

Contents

Like other fairywrens, the variegated fairywren is a cooperative breeding species, with small groups of birds maintaining and defending small territories year-round. Groups consist of a socially monogamous pair with several helper birds who assist in raising the young. Male wrens pluck yellow petals and display them to females as part of a courtship display. These birds are primarily insectivorous and forage and live in the shelter of scrubby vegetation east of the Great Dividing Range. Populations across central, northern and western Australia were considered subspecies of this species until 2018, when they were reclassified as the purple-backed fairywren.

Taxonomy and systematics

The variegated fairywren was originally described by Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield in 1827, [2] and was at first considered a colour variant of the superb fairywren. [3] It is one of eleven species of the genus Malurus , commonly known as fairywrens, found in Australia and lowland New Guinea. [4] Within the genus it belongs to a group of four very similar species known collectively as chestnut-shouldered fairywrens. There are well-defined borders between the variegated fairywren and the other chestnut-shouldered wrens in the group, which are the lovely fairywren, red-winged fairywren, and the blue-breasted fairywren. [5] Gregory Mathews erected the genus Leggeornis for the group, with the variegated fairywren as the type species. [6] However, the genus has been reclassified as a subgenus within Malurus. [7]

Like other fairywrens, the variegated fairywren is unrelated to the true wrens. Initially, fairywrens were thought to be a member of the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae, or the warbler family, Sylviidae, before being placed in the newly recognised Maluridae in 1975. [8] More recently, DNA analysis has shown the family to be related to the honeyeaters (Meliphagidae) and the pardalotes (Pardalotidae) in a large superfamily Meliphagoidea. [9] [10]

"Variegated fairywren" has been designated the official name by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC). [11] The scientific name commemorates the British collector Aylmer Bourke Lambert. The variegated fairywren was formerly known as the variegated wren, until 1978 when the RAOU pushed for the current name to be used. It is also known as Lambert's wren. [12]

Evolutionary history

In his 1982 monograph, ornithologist Richard Schodde proposed a northern origin for the chestnut-shouldered fairywren group due to the variety of forms in north and their absence in the southeast of the continent. Ancestral birds spread south and colonised the southwest during a warm wetter period around 2 million years ago at the end of the Pliocene or beginning of the Pleistocene. Subsequent cooler and drier conditions resulted in loss of habitat and fragmentation of populations. Southwestern birds gave rise to what is now the red-winged fairywren, while those in the northwest of the continent became the variegated fairywren and yet another isolated in the northeast became the lovely fairywren. Further warmer, humid conditions again allowed birds to spread southwards, this group occupying central southern Australia east to the Eyre Peninsula became the blue-breasted fairywren. Cooler climate after this resulted in this being isolated as well and evolving into a separate species. Finally, after the end of the last glacial period 12,000–13,000 years ago, the northern variegated forms have again spread southwards, resulting in the purple-backed fairywren. This has resulted in the variegated fairywren's range to overlap with all three other species. Schodde also proposed that the blue-grey coloured females of the lavender-flanked subspecies were ancestral, while the browner coloration of females of southern forms was an adaptation to dry climates. Further molecular studies may result in this hypothesis being modified. [13]

A 2017 molecular analysis by Alison J. McLean and colleagues of the former subspecies of the variegated fairywren largely supported Schodde's hypothesis. The Great Dividing Range was a major barrier and there is a deep genetic split between the variegated fairywren to its east, and the purple-backed fairywren to the west. [14] In 2018, this split was recognized by the International Ornithological Committee with the subspecies to the north and west reallocated to the purple-backed fairywren. [15]

Description

Female (eclipse male has pale eye ring, dark face stripe) Variegated Fairy-wren female.jpg
Female (eclipse male has pale eye ring, dark face stripe)

The variegated fairywren is 14–15 cm (5.5–6 in) long [16] and weighs 6–11 g (0.21–0.39 oz). [17] Like other fairywrens, it is notable for its marked sexual dimorphism, males adopting a highly visible breeding plumage of brilliant iridescent blue and chestnut contrasting with black and grey-brown. The brightly coloured crown and ear tufts are prominently featured in breeding displays. [18] The male in breeding plumage has striking bright blue ear coverts, with the crown often slightly darker, a black throat and nape, a royal blue upper back, chestnut shoulders and a bluish-grey tail. The wings are grey-brown and the belly creamy white. Non-breeding males, females and juveniles are predominantly grey-brown in colour; all males have a black bill and lores (eye-ring and bare skin between eyes and bill), while females have a red-brown bill and bright rufous lores. Immature males will develop black bills by six months of age, [19] and moult into breeding plumage the first breeding season after hatching, though this may be incomplete with residual brownish plumage and may take another year or two to perfect. [20] Both sexes moult in autumn after breeding, with males assuming an eclipse non-breeding plumage. They will moult again into nuptial plumage in winter or spring. [21] The blue coloured plumage, particularly the ear-coverts, of the breeding males is highly iridescent due to the flattened and twisted surface of the barbules. [21] The blue plumage also reflects ultraviolet light strongly, and so may be even more prominent to other fairywrens, whose colour vision extends into that part of the spectrum. [22]

Vocalisations

Vocal communication among variegated fairywrens is used primarily for communication between birds in a social group and for advertising and defending a territory. [23] The basic song type is a high-pitched reel of a large number of short elements (10–20 per second); this lasts 1–4 seconds. The reel of the variegated fairywren is the softest of all malurids. [24] Birds maintain contact with each other by tsst or seeee calls, while a short, sharp tsit serves as an alarm call. [17]

Distribution and habitat

The variegated fairywren is found in scrubland with plenty of vegetation providing dense cover. [25] They have been reported to shelter in mammal burrows to avoid extreme heat. [26] In urban situations such as suburban Sydney, these fairywrens have been said to prefer areas with more cover than the related superb fairywren, [27] though a 2007 survey in Sydney's northern suburbs has proposed that variegated fairywrens may prefer areas of higher plant diversity rather than denser cover as such. [28] Forestry plantations of pine and eucalypts are generally unsuitable as they lack undergrowth. [29]

Behaviour and ecology

Like all fairywrens, the variegated 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, [30] its balance assisted by a relatively 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. [31] 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. [32]

Like other fairywrens, male variegated fairywrens have been observed carrying brightly coloured petals to display to females as part of a courtship ritual. In this species, the petals that have been recorded have been yellow. [33] Petals are displayed and presented to a female in the male fairywren's own or another territory. [34]

The variegated fairywren is a cooperative breeding species, with pairs or small groups of birds maintaining and defending small territories year-round. Though less studied than the superb- and splendid fairywrens, it is presumably socially monogamous and sexually promiscuous, with each partner mating with other individuals. [25] Females and males feed young equally, while helper birds assist in defending the territory and feeding and rearing the young. [35] Birds in a group roost side-by-side in dense cover as well as engage in mutual preening. [25] Occasionally larger groups of around 10 birds have been recorded, though it is unclear whether this was incidental or a defined flock. [25]

Breeding

Male and females, Dayboro, SE Queensland Variegated Fairywrens Dayboro 1207.JPG
Male and females, Dayboro, SE Queensland

Breeding occurs from spring through to late summer; the nest is generally situated in thick vegetation and less than 1 m (3.3 ft) above the ground. It is a round or domed structure made of loosely woven grasses and spider webs, with an entrance in one side. Two or more broods may be laid in an extended breeding season. A clutch consists of three or four matte white eggs with reddish-brown splotches and spots, measuring 12 mm × 16 mm (0.47 in × 0.63 in). [36] The female incubates the eggs for 14 to 16 days, after which newly hatched nestlings are fed and their fecal sacs removed by all group members for 10–12 days, by which time they are fledged. Parents and helper birds will feed them for around one month. Young birds often remain in the family group as helpers for a year or more before moving to another group, though some move on and breed in the first year. [25] Variegated fairywrens commonly play host to the brood parasite Horsfield's bronze cuckoo and, less commonly, the brush cuckoo and fan-tailed cuckoo. [37]

Food and feeding

The variegated fairywren consumes a wide range of small creatures, mostly insects, including ants, grasshoppers, bugs, flies, weevils and various larvae. [38] Unlike the more ground-foraging superb fairywrens, they mostly forage deep inside shrubby vegetation, which is less than 2 m (7 ft) above the ground. [35]

Threats

Major nest predators include Australian magpies, butcherbirds, laughing kookaburra, currawongs, crows and ravens, and shrike-thrushes, as well as introduced mammals such as the red fox, feral cats and black rat. [39] The variegated fairywren readily adopts a 'rodent-run' display to distract predators from nests with young birds. The head, neck and tail are lowered, the wings are held out and the feathers are fluffed as the bird runs rapidly and voices a continuous alarm call. [25]

Cultural depictions

The variegated fairywren appeared on a 45c postage stamp in the Australia Post Nature of Australia – Desert issue released in June 2002. [40]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australasian wren</span> Family of birds

The Australasian wrens are a family, Maluridae, of small, insectivorous passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea. While commonly known as wrens, they are unrelated to the true wrens. The family comprises 32 species in six genera.

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

The superb fairywren 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.

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

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">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">Broad-billed fairywren</span> Species of bird

The broad-billed fairywren is a species of bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is found in northern and north-western New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

<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 monotypic 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.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2019). "Malurus lamberti". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2019: e.T155093173A155353765. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T155093173A155353765.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
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  3. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 160.
  4. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 143.
  5. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 159.
  6. ↑ Mathews GM (1923). The Birds of Australia. Vol. Supplement 2. London: Witherby & Co. p. 94.
  7. ↑ Australian Biological Resources Study (28 February 2013). "Subgenus Malurus (Leggeornis) Mathews, 1912". Australian Faunal Directory. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Australian Government. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  8. ↑ Schodde R (1975). Interim List of Australian Songbirds. Melbourne: RAOU.
  9. ↑ Barker, FK; Barrowclough GF; Groth JG (2002). "A phylogenetic hypothesis for passerine birds: taxonomic and biogeographic implications of an analysis of nuclear DNA sequence data". Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B. 269 (1488): 295–308. doi:10.1098/rspb.2001.1883. PMC   1690884 . PMID   11839199.
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  11. ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2017). "Lyrebirds, scrubbirds, bowerbirds, Australasian wrens". World Bird List Version 7.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
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  13. ↑ Schodde, R. (1982). The fairywrens: a monograph of the Maluridae. Melbourne: Lansdowne Editions. ISBN   0-7018-1051-3.
  14. ↑ McLean AJ, Toon A, Schmidt DJ, Hughes JM, Joseph L (2017). "Phylogeography and geno-phenotypic discordance in a widespread Australian bird, the Variegated Fairy-wren, Malurus lamberti (Aves: Maluridae)". Biol J Linn Soc. 121 (3): 655–669. doi:10.1093/biolinnean/blx004.
  15. ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2018). "Species Updates". World Bird List Version 8.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  16. ↑ Simpson K, Day N, Trusler P (1993). Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. Ringwood, Victoria: Viking O'Neil. p. 392. ISBN   0-670-90478-3.
  17. 1 2 Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 162.
  18. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, pp. 143–44.
  19. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, pp. 160–61.
  20. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 145.
  21. 1 2 Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 144.
  22. ↑ Bennett AT, Cuthill IC (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.
  23. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 163.
  24. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, pp. 165–66.
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 164.
  26. ↑ Marchant S (1992). "A bird observatory at Moruya, N.S.W. 1975–84". Eurobodalla Natural History Society, Occasional Publication (1): 1–99.
  27. ↑ Roberts, Peter (1993). Birdwatcher's Guide to the Sydney Region. Kenthurst, New South Wales: Kangaroo Press. p. 131. ISBN   0-86417-565-5.
  28. ↑ Dalby-Ball, Mia (2007). "Results in of Inaugural Fairy Wren Survey". Pittwater Council website. Pittwater Council. Archived from the original on November 10, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
  29. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 134.
  30. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 142.
  31. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 141.
  32. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 161-62.
  33. ↑ Strong M, Cuffe E (1985). "Petal display by the Variegated Wren". Sunbird. 15: 71.
  34. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 75.
  35. 1 2 Tidemann SC (1986). "Breeding in Three Species of Fairy-Wrens (Malurus): Do Helpers Really Help?" (Abstract). Emu. 86 (3): 131–38. doi:10.1071/MU9860131 . Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  36. ↑ Beruldsen, G (2003). Australian Birds: Their Nests and Eggs. Kenmore Hills, Qld: self. p. 279. ISBN   0-646-42798-9.
  37. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 119.
  38. ↑ Barker RD, Vestkens WJ (1990). Food of Australian Birds: Vol. 2 – Passerines. CSIRO. p. 557.
  39. ↑ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 121.
  40. ↑ "Desert Birds". Australian Stamps. Australia Post. 9 August 2001. Archived from the original on 8 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-13.

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