Blue-breasted fairywren

Blue-breasted fairywren

Blue-breasted wren

Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Family
Genus
SPECIES
Malurus pulcherrimus

The blue-breasted fairywren (Malurus pulcherrimus ), or blue-breasted wren, is a species of passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is non-migratory and endemic to southern Western Australia and the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. Exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism, the male adopts a brilliantly coloured breeding plumage, with a bright blue crown, ear coverts and upper back, red shoulders, contrasting with a dark blue throat, grey-brown tail and wings and pale underparts. Non-breeding males, females and juveniles have predominantly grey-brown plumage. No separate subspecies are recognised.

Appearance

The contact call is a soft, short reed-like trill. The alarm call is the typical Malurus short churring notes repeatedly spat out and taken up by all members of the group. The males have the least distinctive song of the Australasian wren family; a soft whirring, buzzing trill, usually given from a sheltered vantage point deep within the foliage of shrubby vegetation.

Distribution

Geography

Countries
Biogeographical realms

The range of the blue-breasted fairywren is inland south-western Western Australia and the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia. Originally it was thought to only occur in Western Australia, but was later found in the more eastward area, where it was for some time mistaken for one of the many forms of the variegated wren. The distribution of the species is unusual in that there is a gap in their range of three hundred kilometres; from the head of the Great Australian Bight to their reappearance on Eyre Peninsula.

Blue-breasted fairywren habitat map
Blue-breasted fairywren habitat map
Blue-breasted fairywren
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Habits and Lifestyle

It is not a common species, and being secretive by nature it is not an easy bird to observe. However, the females may be induced to show themselves if the wren distress call is imitated. The adult males are even more shy than the females and are usually only glimpsed skulking in the bushes.

Lifestyle
Seasonal behavior
Bird's call

Diet and Nutrition

Blue-breasted wrens are predominantly ground feeders, taking beetles, grubs, ants, weevils flies, wasps and other small invertebrates.

Mating Habits

The comparatively short breeding season is from August to November. This means the species usually only has time to raise one, sometimes two, clutches per year. Only females have been observed nest building, and brooding the eggs and young. The time taken to complete a nest is roughly a week. The average clutch consists of three ovoid creamy eggs speckled with coarse smudges and blotches of reddish-brown, particularly on the larger end.

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Little is known of the incubation period and the rearing of the young, but these tasks are probably similar in nature to the other closely related members of the wren family. However, both parents, and other members of the individual family group, have been observed feeding the nestlings.

If the nest, or young, are threatened both adult sexes employ the “rodent-run” predator distracting technique typical of the Maluridae.

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References

1. Blue-breasted fairywren Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-breasted_fairywren
2. Blue-breasted fairywren on The IUCN Red List site - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22703756/131281600
3. Xeno-canto bird call - https://xeno-canto.org/382714

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