Uncommon generally, but moderately common in remnant suitable habitat.
Habitat
Dense riparian vegetation, usually witnin 10 m of permanent water, such as rivers, creeks and billabongs. Pandanus thickets with tall canegrass and other dense low cover.
Purple-crowned Fairywren (Malurus coronatus) [XC816829]
by nick talbot from Kununurra, Shire of Wyndham-East Kimberley, Western Australia, Australia (call, song, camera shutter)
Purple-crowned Fairywren (Malurus coronatus) [XC327167]
by nick talbot from Gregory, Victoria - Daly Shire, Northern Territory, Australia (call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
August - January and April - May.
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Nest
Bulky, with a side-entrance near the top, composed of strips of paperbark and blades of cane-grass, lined with fine grass-roots, usually placed in cane-grass.
Eggs (Guide)
2 - 4, usually 3; dull white speckled with mid red-brown, especially at the larger end; broad-oval; about 17 x 12 mm. Incubation: unknown but at least 14 days; probably by female.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 10 days.
Subspecies
Protein evidence allies it with Superb Fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus) and Splendid Fairy-wren (Malurus splendens), the three constituting the "Australian blue group". Subspecies macgillivrayi sometimes considered a separate species.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
coronatus Gould, 1858 - Kimberley Divide, WA east to the Victoria Ranges Drainage, NT.
macgillivrayi Mathews, 1913 - Southern Gulf of Carpentaria Drainage, NT and Queensland, between Roper and Leichardt Ranges.
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
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