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 LC    Superb Fairy-wren* Id (Atlas): 529
    Malurus cyaneus Endemic

Description (10)
Image of Superb Fairy-wren (Male)
 

Other Names (World)
Superb Fairy-wren, Superb Fairywren, Blue Wren, Fairy Wren, Gould's Blue Wren, Mormon Wren, Queensland Blue Wren, Silvery Blue Wren, Superb Blue Wren, Jenny Wren, Superb Warbler, Blue Wren-warbler, Blue Bonnet, Bluecap, Cock-tail

Family
Maluridae (Fairy-wrens)

Size
12 - 15 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Latham, 1783)

Derivation
Mal-ür'-us - Gk, malacos, soft; Gk, oura, tail: cÿ-an'-e-us - Gk, cyanos, blue

Abundance (Guide)
C

Common.

Habitat
Slerophyll forests and woodlands, with well-developed understorey of heath or other sclerophyllous shrubs, and also with poorly developed understorey of grasses and sedges and scattered shrubs.

Range (Guide)
Australia (B).

Image of Range of Superb Fairy-wren
 
From about Springsure and Brisbane, Qld, south to Tasmania and west to Kangaroo Island and Eyre Peninsula, SA. Also much of the Riverina.
 
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is unknown (2020) and stable.

Status LC
Secure.

For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Habits
Usually in pairs or small groups, with brown-plumaged birds dominating.

Food
Insects, occasionally seeds, flowers and fruit.

Voice
An accelerating series of 'pips' breaking into a loud, brisk, merry reel. a 'prip-prip' contact call. A high-pitched 'seee' alarm call.



Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (73)...)

 
Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus) [XC571179]
     by Ramit Singal from Bakers Beach, Tasmania, Australia (call)

 
Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus) [XC576507]
     by Marc Anderson from The Pilliga, New South Wales, Australia (song)

Breeding Season (Guide)
June - February.

J F M A M J J A S O N D
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   


Nest
Dome-shaped, with a side-entrance, composed of grasses, bark-fiber and cobweb, lined with feathers, wool or other soft materials, placed near the ground in shrubs or grass.

Eggs (Guide)
3 or 4; white, spotted with red-brown at the larger end; long-oval; about 17 x 12 mm. Incubation: 13 - 15 days; by female.

Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in 12 - 13 days.

Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Splendid Fairy-wren (Malurus splendens). These two, together with Purple-crowned Fairy-wren (Malurus coronatus), constitute the "Australian blue group".

The following 6 subspecies are recognised:

  • cyaneus (Latham, 1783)   -  Tasmania, excluding the islands of Bass Strait.
  • samueli Mathews, 1912   -  Furneaux Group, Bass Strait.
  • elizabethae Campbell, AJ, 1901   -  King Island.
  • ashbyi Mathews, 1912   -  Kangaroo Island.
  • cyanochlamys Sharpe, 1881   -  South-eastern Australia from south-eastern Qld, south and south-west to central Murray River, of New South Wales and Victoria, and west to Bassian Plain, Vic.
  • leggei Mathews, 1912   -  Western Murray River of Vic. and SA, south-western Victoria and south-eastern SA to the Mt Lofty Ranges, Adelaide Plains and southern Eyre Peninsula.


Similar Species
Non-breeding males and females and juveniles with female and juvenile Variegated Fairy-wren (Malurus lamberti) which have longer tails and a redder loral stripe and Splendid Fairy-wren (Malurus splendens) which have ligheter blue upper tail feathers.

Compare Images


References
See References.

The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9

More... see more information (images, calls, videos etc)


Files:
JPG files for Superb Fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus) - 10 filesMP3 files for Superb Fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus) - 1 files


More Information

BirdLife International

For more information about the Superb Fairy-wren see... Show Articles BirdLife International Species Factsheet.


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