Southern Emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus) [XC382073]
by Marc Anderson from Arpenteur Nature Reserve, Cheynes Beach, Western Australia, Australia (call, song)
Southern Emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus) [XC327261]
by nick talbot from Barren Grounds, The Council of the Municipality of Kiama, New South Wales, Australia (call)
Nest
Oval, with a side-entrance near the top, composed of grass, lined with finer grasses, built in a tuft of grass or a low bush.
Eggs (Guide)
2- 4; white, sparingly spotted and blotched with mid red-brown and underlying grey, mainly at the larger end; oval; about 17 x 13 mm. Incubation: about 10 - 12 days; by female.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in 10 - 11 days.
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Mallee Emu-wren (Stipiturus mallee) and Rufous-crowned Emu-wren (Stipiturus ruficeps) and has been treated as conspecific with Mallee Emu-wren (Stipiturus mallee). Correct form of subspecies name polionotum unclear, as both "polionotum" and "polionota" quoted in original description; "polionotum" provisionally adopted herein, pending published clarification by original describers.
The following 8 subspecies are recognised:
malachurus (Shaw, 1798) - Coastal south-eastern Australia from Noosa Olain, south and south-west to Otway Peninsula, Vic.
littleri Mathews, 1912 - Mainland Tasmania.
polionotum Schodde & Mason, IJ, 1999 - Western Victoria and south-eastern SA extending north to The Grampians and Ninety-mile Desert.
intermedius Ashby, 1920 - Southern Mount Lofty Ranges, SA.
halmaturinus Parsons, 1920 - Kangaroo Island, SA.
parimeda Schodde & Weatherly, 1981 - Southern tip of Eyre Peninsula, SA.
westernensis Campbell, AJ, 1912 - Coastal and subcoastal south-western WA from Ravensthorpe - Hopetoun in the south-east, north-west to Jurien Bay and locally inland to Broome Hill, Bendering and Newdegate in the south.
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