- Malurus lamberti
Identification
11·5–14·5 cm (4½-5¾ in)
Chestnut shoulders, blue crown and ear-coverts; non-breeding males, females and juveniles have predominantly grey-brown plumage, but in non-breeding males, the bill and lores remain black.
Both sexes have long dull-blue tails.
Variation
The color of the back of the breeding plumage male varies from sky blue to purple depending on subspecies.
Distribution
Australia: found in coastal south-eastern Australia (eastern New South Wales, and south-eastern Queensland north to Gladstone)
Taxonomy
Purple-backed Fairywren has been split from this species.
Photo by Ken Doy
Minnippi Parklands, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, April 2017
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Dense shrubby vegetation, including coastal scrub, rough rocky thicket areas and along creeks.
Behaviour
Diet
Their diet consists of insects such as ants, wasps, flies, grasshoppers, beetles etc.
Breeding
Their nest is a domed oval structure built by the female. It is made from grass, twigs and bark. Fine grass, fur and feathers are used to line the cup. The clutch consists of 2-4 eggs, which are incubated by the female.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Birdforum thread discussing taxonomy of Fairywrens and related species
- Rowley, I. and E. Russell (2020). Variegated Fairywren (Malurus lamberti), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.varfai5.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Variegated Fairywren. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Variegated_Fairywren
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
