• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Which Fairy-wren? (1 Viewer)

Maroon Jay

Maroon Jay

Airborne
Canada
Which Fairy-wren. Dark red around the eyes and black legs. photographed near Port Augusta, South Australia.
 

Attachments

  • DSC_1388.jpg
    DSC_1388.jpg
    180.7 KB · Views: 79
Last edited:
I think it's much more likely to be a female Splendid Fairywren. It looks fine for that species and I don't think Blue-breasted ordinarily occurs as far north as Port Augusta.
 
Though I'm actually now thinking it's a female Variegated Fairwren, which is probably the commonest species in that area and has the dark chestnut (rather than paler and more orange) lores that this bird shows.
 
Without looking at the complexities of the ID features, I'd be very wary of calling this a Blue-breasted without extremely knowledgeable local opinion. Especially as it's likely to be the least common and most localised species in that general area.
 
Larry Sweetland said:
Without looking at the complexities of the ID features, I'd be very wary of calling this a Blue-breasted without extremely knowledgeable local opinion. Especially as it's likely to be the least common and most localised species in that general area.
Click to expand...

Check out the link Larry......looks odds on to me?

Just too grey for Variegated

A
 
andyadcock said:
Check out the link Larry......looks odds on to me?

Just too grey for Variegated

A
Click to expand...

Maybe you're right Andy, I just don't know enough about them, and I wouldn't claim anything definite just from flicking through a range of supposedly correctly identified pics, when it comes to fairywrens.

There is (or was) a good link somewhere, to an analysis on how to identify them, but I haven't time to look for it now.
 
I have 'Fairy-Wrens and Grasswrens' Rowley and Russel.

There is a grey race of Variegated but it's miles away in Kimberly. It states that female Blue-breasted is 'very similar to variegated but lores rufous and bill red-brown'. The bill on Variegated is brighter red not red-brown.

Sticking with my suggestion.

Andy
 
Last edited:
If this helps, the ranges of the 4 races of Variegated are given as

lamberti Eastern Coastal Australia

assimilis Throughout mainland and Western Australia

rogersi Kimberley region

dulcis Arnhem lan, Northern Australia

Whilst under Blue-breasted, range is stated as 'Across Southern Australia'.

Splendid has 3 races

splendens, SW Australia

melanotus Inland Eastern Australia

callainus Central Australia

Andy
 
andyadcock said:
Whilst under Blue-breasted, range is stated as 'Across Southern Australia'.

Andy
Click to expand...

maybe, but I got the impression whilst in Aus that it was very patchily distributed. I've only seen it at one site, and I've spent more than a year in Aus in total. Whereas Variegated Fairywren is everywhere.
 
Larry Sweetland said:
maybe, but I got the impression whilst in Aus that it was very patchily distributed. I've only seen it at one site, and I've spent more than a year in Aus in total. Whereas Variegated Fairywren is everywhere.
Click to expand...

Variegated isn't in South Australia at the area given according to the range map in the Fairy-Wrens book.

A
 
Last edited:
Larry Sweetland said:
If you're wondering about the range of Variegated, then it's far more widespread in South Australia than Blue-breasted.
Click to expand...

Variegated is missing from that part of the South in my range map.

Been trying to scan the page but my device drivers have un-installed!!

Here we go

A
 

Attachments

  • rsz_img025.jpg
    rsz_img025.jpg
    106.5 KB · Views: 62
Last edited:
Going by Ebird (and my own experience of visiting the area) there are lots of records of Variegated Fairywrens from Port Augusta and no records of Blue-breasted. It's found further south, where I suspect the habitat is a bit more suitable.

The bird in the picture Andy linked to looks strikingly more blue tailed than this bird, so I don't think it's actually that good a match. The OP's bird has a mostly greyish colour with hints of blue. Here's a female assimilis Variegated, which shows greyish but slightly blue tinged tail as well as rather greyish plumage on the head:
http://ibc.lynxeds.com/photo/variegated-fairy-wren-malurus-lamberti/female-carrying-food
 
I posted the range as it appears in Fairy-Wrens, it shouldn't be there.

Range for Blue-breasted is nowhere near and is actually much further West than Port Augusta.


A
 
Last edited:
This page is helpful on female fairywren ID:
http://birdlife.org.au/australian-b...hades-of-brown-identifying-female-fairy-wrens

It's worth noting the following from there:

The bill colour is different for many species but caution should be exercised in using this feature alone as the differences can be very subtle and dependent on the light conditions in which the birds are viewed. So while a female Variegated Fairy-wren generally has a far more orange-tan coloured bill than a Blue-breasted, which tends to be a richer, darker red, especially at the tip, this feature is not as reliable as comparing the relationship of the bill colour to the lores and eye-ring. The darker, chestnut lores of Variegated contrast strongly with its paler bill, whereas in Blue-breasted the lores are about the same colour as the bill.
Click to expand...

The OP's bird shows obvious contrast between the darker lores and paler bill, which is good for Variegated.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 8 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

PhilSteiner
First year gull in Tajikistan...Slender-billed or Black-headed?
Replies
4
Views
565
Grahame Walbridge
G
W
Which cockatoo No. 1? W.A. Australia
Replies
2
Views
285
Wiganlad
W
R
Wrong Wren
Replies
8
Views
465
Bewick
Bewick
pandoo
Is it a Larus glaucoides thayeri ?
Replies
6
Views
536
pandoo
pandoo
W
Brisbane, Australia, 20.2.2024
Replies
4
Views
562
Indobirder
I

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top