White-winged Fairy-wren
Encyclopedia
The White-winged Fairywren (Malurus leucopterus) is a species of passerine
bird
in the fairywren family Maluridae
. It lives in the drier parts of central Australia; from central Queensland
and South Australia
across to Western Australia
. Like other fairywrens, this species displays marked sexual dimorphism
and one or more males of a social group grow brightly coloured plumage during the breeding season. The female is sandy-brown with light-blue tail feathers; it is smaller than the male, which, in breeding plumage, has a bright-blue body, black bill, and white wings. Younger sexually mature males are almost indistinguishable from females and are often the breeding males. A troop of White-winged Fairywrens in spring and summer has a brightly coloured older male accompanied by small, inconspicuous brown birds, many of which are also male. Three subspecies
are recognised. Apart from the mainland subspecies, one is found on Dirk Hartog Island
, and another on Barrow Island
off the coast of Western Australia. Males from these islands have black rather than blue breeding plumage.
The White-winged Fairywren mainly eats insects
, supplementing this with small fruits and leaf buds. It occurs in heathland and arid scrubland, where low shrubs provide cover. Like other fairywrens, it is a cooperative breeding
species, and small groups of birds maintain and defend territories year-round. Groups consist of a socially monogamous pair with several helper birds who assist in raising the young. These helpers are progeny
that have attained sexual maturity but remain with the family group for one or more years after fledging. Although not yet confirmed genetically, the White-winged Fairywren may be promiscuous and assist in raising the young from other pairings. As part of a courtship display
, the male wren plucks petals from flowers and displays them to female birds.
naturalist
s Jean René Constant Quoy
and Joseph Paul Gaimard
in September 1818, on Louis de Freycinet
's voyage around the Southern Hemisphere
. The specimen was lost in a shipwreck, but a painting entitled Mérion leucoptère by Jacques Arago
survived and led to the bird's description in 1824 by French ornithologist Charles Dumont de Sainte-Croix. The name for the species was derived from the Ancient Greek
leuko- 'white' and pteron 'wing'.
Ironically, the original specimen was of the black-plumaged subspecies from Dirk Hartog Island
, which was not recorded again for 80 years. Meanwhile, the widespread blue-plumaged subspecies was discovered and described as two separate species by John Gould
in 1865. He called one specimen collected from inland New South Wales the White-winged Superb Warbler, M. cyanotus, while another, which appeared to have a white back and wings, was described as M. leuconotus, the White-backed Superb Warbler. It was not until the early 20th century that both of these blue-plumaged mainland forms were found to be of a single species. George Mack
, ornithologist of the National Museum of Victoria
, considered the specific name leuconotus to take precedence in his 1934 revision of the genus, and more recent studies have followed suit. The back region between the shoulders is in fact bare, with feathers that arise from the shoulder (scapular) region and sweep inwards in different patterns. This variation confused the early naturalists who described the white-backed and blue-backed species.
The White-winged Fairywren was often referred to as the Blue-and-white Wren, and early observers, such as Norman Favaloro
of Victoria, refer to them by this name. However, like other fairywrens, the White-winged Fairywren is unrelated to the true wren
(family Troglodytidae). It was previously classified as a member of the old world flycatcher family Muscicapidae, and later as a member of the warbler family Sylviidae
, before they were placed in the newly recognised Maluridae
in 1975. More recently, DNA
analysis has shown the Maluridae family to be related to the Meliphagidae (honeyeater
s), and the Pardalotidae (pardalotes, scrubwrens, thornbills, gerygones and allies) in the large superfamily Meliphagoidea
.
Within the Maluridae, it is one of 12 species in the genus, Malurus
. It is most closely related to the Australian Red-backed Fairywren, with which it makes up a phylogenetic clade
with the White-shouldered Fairywren of New Guinea as the next closest relative. Termed the bicoloured wrens by ornithologist Richard Schodde
, these three species are notable for their lack of head patterns and ear tufts and their uniform black or blue plumage with contrasting shoulder or wing colour; they replace each other geographically across northern Australia and New Guinea.
of Malurus leucopterus. Both black-plumaged forms have been called Black-and-white Fairywren.
M. l. leucopterus and M. l. edouardi are both generally smaller than their mainland relatives, and both subspecies tend to have smaller family groups that consist of only one male and one female, with an occasional helper bird. While the island subspecies and mainland species have been found to have similar social structure, breeding pairs on both islands have, on average, smaller clutches, longer incubation times, and fewer live fledglings. Additionally, while M. l. leuconotus is considered of Least Concern
by the IUCN due to its widespread occurrence, both island subspecies are considered vulnerable by the Australian government due to their delicate nesting sites that are easily disturbed by human construction and habitation.
to mainland populations of leuconotus than to each other; Dirk Hartog Island is 2 km (1¼ mi) from the mainland while Barrow Island is 56 km (35 mi) from the mainland. Gene flow
between the populations existed at the beginning of the present interglacial
period, some 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, at a time when sea levels were lower and both islands connected with the mainland.
There are three theories as to how the three races of White-winged Fairywren could have evolved. The first suggests that black-and-white plumage is an ancestral condition and, following separation of the three populations, blue-and-white plumage evolved in the mainland species. The second hypothesis suggests that black-and-white plumage evolved convergently on the two separate islands. The third suggests that black-and-white plumage evolved once from the blue-and-white ancestral condition, and later the mainland species re-evolved blue plumage.
The distribution of the three bi-coloured fairywren species indicates their ancestors lived across New Guinea and northern Australia in a period when sea levels were lower and the two regions were joined by a land bridge. Populations became separated as sea levels rose, and New Guinea birds evolved into the White-shouldered Fairywren, and Australian forms into the Red-backed Fairywren and the arid-adapted White-winged Fairywren.
Measuring 11–13.5 cm (4⅓–5⅓ in
) in length, White-winged Fairywrens are one of the two smallest species of Malurus. Males typically weigh between 7.2 g
(0.25 oz
) and 10.9 g (0.38 oz) while females weigh between 6.8 g (0.24 oz) and 11 g (0.39 oz). Averaging 8.5 mm (0.334645669291339 in) in males and 8.4 mm (0.330708661417323 in) in females, the bill
is relatively long, narrow and pointed and wider at the base. Wider than it is deep, the bill is similar in shape to those of other birds that feed by probing for or picking insects off their environs. It is finer and more pointed in this species than in other fairywrens.
Fully mature adults are sexually dimorphic
, with the male being larger and differing in colour from the female. The adult female is sandy-brown with a very light blue tail, and a pinkish buff bill. The male in breeding plumage has a black bill, white wings and shoulders, and a wholly cobalt blue
or black body (depending on subspecies). These contrasting white feathers are especially highlighted in flight and ground displays in breeding season. The male in eclipse plumage resembles the female, though it may be distinguished by its darker bill. Both sexes have long, slender, distinct tails held at an upward angle from their bodies. Measuring around 6.25 cm (2½ in), the tail feathers have a white fringe, which disappears with wear.
Nestlings, fledglings, and juveniles have brown plumage and pink-brown bills with shorter tails than adults. Young males develop blue tail feathers and darker bills by late summer or autumn (following a spring or summer breeding season), while young females develop light blue tails. By the subsequent spring, all males are fertile and have developed cloacal protuberances, which store sperm. In contrast, during the breeding season, fertile females develop oedematous brood patches, which are bare areas on their bellies.
Males entering their second or third year may develop spotty blue and white plumage during the breeding season. By their fourth year, males have assumed their nuptial plumage, where the scapulars, secondary wing coverts, and secondary flight feather
s are white while the rest of their bodies are a vibrant cobalt blue
. All sexually mature males moult twice a year, once before the breeding season in winter or spring, and again afterwards in autumn; rarely, a male may moult directly from nuptial to nuptial plumage. The breeding males' blue plumage, particularly the ear-coverts, is highly iridescent due to the flattened and twisted surface of the barbules. The blue plumage also reflects ultraviolet
light strongly, and so may be even more prominent to other fairywrens, whose colour vision extends into this part of the spectrum
.
made by both sexes in order to establish territory and unify the group. It is a long song of “rising and falling notes” that is first signaled by 3–5 chip notes. Although seemingly weak in sound, the reel carries a long way above the stunted shrubland. A harsh trit call is often used to establish contact (especially between mothers and their young) and to raise alarm; it is characterised by a series of “loud and abrupt” calls that vary in frequency and intensity. Adults will use a high-pitched peep that may be made intermittently with reels as a contact call to birds that are more distant. Nestlings, fledglings, and females around the nest will use high pips—quiet, high-pitched, and short calls. When used by a mature female, they are mixed with harsh calls. Nestlings may also make “gurgling” noises when they are being fed. The subordinate helpers and feeders may also make this sound.
and semi-arid environments between latitudes 19 and 32oS in mainland Australia. It occupies coastal Western Australia from around Port Hedland
south to Perth, and stretches eastwards over to Mount Isa
in Queensland, and along the western parts of the Great Dividing Range
through central Queensland and central western New South Wales, into the northwestern corner of Victoria and the Eyre Peninsula
and across the Nullarbor. It commonly cohabits with other species of fairywren, including the Purple-backed Fairy-wren (M. lamberti assimilis). White-winged Fairywrens often inhabit heathlands
or treeless shrublands dominated by saltbush (Atriplex
) and small shrubs of the genus Maireana
, or grasses such as tussock grass (Triodia
) and cane-grass (Zygochloa
), as well as floodplain
areas vegetated with lignum (Muehlenbeckia florulenta
). M. l. leucopterus inhabits similar habitats on Dirk Hartog Island and M. l. edouardi does the same on Barrow Island. The White-winged Fairywren is replaced to the north of its range on mainland Australia by the Red-backed Fairywren.
White-winged Fairywrens live in complex social groups. Clans consist of 2–4 birds, typically one brown or partially blue male and a breeding female. Nest helpers
are birds raised in previous years which remain with the family group after fledging and assist in raising young; they may be male that have retained their brown plumage, or female. Birds in a group roost side-by-side in dense cover and engage in mutual preening. Several subgroups live within one territory and make up a clan, which is presided over by one blue (or black) male who assumes breeding plumage. While the blue male is dominant to the rest of the brown and partially blue males within his clan, he nests with only one female and contributes to the raising of only her young. It is unclear whether or not he fathers young in any of the other nests within his territory.
Each clan has a specified area of land that all members contribute to foraging from and defending. Frequently, territory sizes, normally 4–6 ha
(10–15 acre
s), are correlated with the abundance of rain and resources in a region; smaller territories occur where insects and resources are plentiful. Additionally, the feeding territories are larger during the winter months when these birds spend much of their time foraging with the entire clan. White-winged Fairywrens occupy much larger territories than other fairywren species.
Observed in this species, the wing-fluttering display is seen in several situations: females responding, and presumably acquiescing, to male courtship displays, juveniles begging for food, by helpers to older birds, and immature males to senior ones. The fairywren lowers its head and tail, outstretches and quivers its wings and holds its beak open silently.
Both the male and female adult White-winged Fairywren may utilise a rodent-run display to distract predators from nests with young birds. The head, neck and tail are lowered, the wings are held out and the feathers are fluffed as the bird runs rapidly and voices a continuous alarm call.
s, bugs
, moth
s, praying mantises, caterpillar
s, and smaller insects, including spider
s. The larger insects are typically fed to nestlings by the breeding female and her helpers, including the breeding male. Adults and juveniles forage by hopping along the shrubland floor, and may supplement their diets with seeds and fruits of saltbush (Rhagodia
), goosefoot (Chenopodium
) and new shoots of samphire
. During spring and summer, birds are active in bursts through the day and accompany their foraging with song. Insects are numerous and easy to catch, which allows the birds to rest between forays. The group often shelters and rests together during the heat of the day. Food is harder to find during winter and they are required to spend the day foraging continuously.
s are brought up a by male who is not the natural father. However, courtship methods among White-winged Fairywrens remain unclear. Blue-plumaged males have been seen outside of their territory and in some cases, carrying pink or purple petals, which among other species advertise the male to neighboring females. In contrast, black-plumaged males on Barrow and Dirk Hartog islands often carry blue petals. While petal-carrying outside of clan territories strongly suggests mating with other females is occurring, further genetic analysis is necessary.
During another courtship display the male bows deeply forward facing the female, reaching the ground with his bill and spreading and flattening his plumage in a near-horizontal plane for up to 20 seconds. In this pose, the white plumage forms a striking white band across his darker plumage.
Breeding females begin to build their nests in the spring and construct domed structures composed of spiderwebs
, fine grasses, thistle-down, and vegetable-down, typically 6–14 cm (2⅓–5½ in) tall and 3–9 mm thick. Each nest has a small entrance on one side and they are normally placed in thick shrubs close to the ground. A clutch
of 3–4 eggs is generally laid anywhere from September to January, with incubation
lasting around 14 days. The White-winged Fairywren generally breeds in the spring in the southwest of Western Australia, but is more opportunistic in arid regions of central and northern Australia, with breeding recorded almost any month after a period of rainfall. Incubation is by the breeding female alone, while the breeding male (a brown or blue male) and nest helpers aid in feeding the nestlings and removing their fecal sac
s. The newly hatched nestlings are altricial
, gaping immediately for food, and developing downy feather tracts and opening their eyes by the third or fourth day. Nestlings remain in the nest for 10–11 days, and fledglings continue to be fed for 3–4 weeks following their departure from the nest. Fledglings then either stay on to help raise the next brood or move to a nearby territory. It is not unusual for a pair bond to hatch and raise two broods in one breeding season, and helpers tend to lessen the stress on the breeding female rather than increase the overall number of feedings. Like other fairywrens, the White-winged Fairywren is particularly prone to parasitic nesting
by the Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo (Chalcites basalis). Parasitism by the Shining Bronze Cuckoo (C. lucidus) and Black-eared Cuckoo
(C. osculans) is rarely recorded.
(Vulpes vulpes) or the feral cat
(Felis catus), and native predatory birds, such as the Australian Magpie
(Gymnorhina tibicen), butcherbird
species (Cracticus spp.), Laughing Kookaburra
(Dacelo novaeguineae), currawong
s (Strepera spp.), crow
s and raven
s (Corvus spp.), shrike-thrush
es (Colluricincla spp.) and reptiles such as goanna
s. Another threat to the birds is from humans; many nests are trampled on (even by the occasional bird watcher) during breeding season because the nests are hidden close to the ground and therefore difficult for passers-by to spot.
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
in the fairywren family Maluridae
Maluridae
The Maluridae are a family of small, insectivorous passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea. Commonly known as wrens, they are unrelated to the true wrens of the Northern Hemisphere...
. It lives in the drier parts of central Australia; from central Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
and South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
across to Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. Like other fairywrens, this species displays marked sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...
and one or more males of a social group grow brightly coloured plumage during the breeding season. The female is sandy-brown with light-blue tail feathers; it is smaller than the male, which, in breeding plumage, has a bright-blue body, black bill, and white wings. Younger sexually mature males are almost indistinguishable from females and are often the breeding males. A troop of White-winged Fairywrens in spring and summer has a brightly coloured older male accompanied by small, inconspicuous brown birds, many of which are also male. Three subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
are recognised. Apart from the mainland subspecies, one is found on Dirk Hartog Island
Dirk Hartog Island
Dirk Hartog Island is an island off the Gascoyne coast of Western Australia, within the Shark Bay World Heritage Area. It is about 80 kilometres long and between 3 and 15 kilometres wide and is Western Australia's largest and most western island. It covers an area of 620 square kilometres and is...
, and another on Barrow Island
Barrow Island (Western Australia)
Barrow Island is a island located northwest off the coast of Western Australia. The island is the second largest in Western Australia after Dirk Hartog Island.-Discovery and early history:...
off the coast of Western Australia. Males from these islands have black rather than blue breeding plumage.
The White-winged Fairywren mainly eats insects
Insectivore
An insectivore is a type of carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures. An alternate term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of eating insects....
, supplementing this with small fruits and leaf buds. It occurs in heathland and arid scrubland, where low shrubs provide cover. Like other fairywrens, it is a cooperative breeding
Cooperative breeding
Cooperative breeding is a social system in which individuals contribute care to offspring that are not their own at the expense of their own reproduction . When reproduction is monopolized by one or few of the adult group members and most adults do not reproduce, but help rear the breeder’s...
species, and small groups of birds maintain and defend territories year-round. Groups consist of a socially monogamous pair with several helper birds who assist in raising the young. These helpers are progeny
Progeny
Progeny can refer to:*A genetic descendant or offspring*An academic progeny Other uses*Progeny Linux Systems*Progeny - an episode of the television series Stargate Atlantis...
that have attained sexual maturity but remain with the family group for one or more years after fledging. Although not yet confirmed genetically, the White-winged Fairywren may be promiscuous and assist in raising the young from other pairings. As part of a courtship display
Courtship display
Courtship display is a special, sometimes ritualised, set of behaviours which some animals perform as part of courtship. Courtship behaviours can include special calls, postures, and movements, and may involve special plumage, bright colours or other ornamentation. A good example is the 'dancing'...
, the male wren plucks petals from flowers and displays them to female birds.
Taxonomy
A specimen of the White-winged Fairywren was first collected by FrenchFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
s Jean René Constant Quoy
Jean René Constant Quoy
Jean René Constant Quoy was a French zoologist.Along with Joseph Paul Gaimard he served as naturalist aboard La Coquille under Louis Isidore Duperrey during its circumnavigation of the globe , and the Astrolabe under the command of Jules Dumont d'Urville...
and Joseph Paul Gaimard
Joseph Paul Gaimard
Joseph Paul Gaimard was a French naval surgeon and naturalist.Along with Jean René Constant Quoy he served as naturalist on the ships L'Uranie under Louis de Freycinet 1817-1820, and L'Astrolabe under Jules Dumont d'Urville 1826-1829...
in September 1818, on Louis de Freycinet
Louis de Freycinet
Louis Claude de Saulces de Freycinet was a French navigator. He circumnavigated the earth, and was one of the first to produce a comprehensive map of the coastline of Australia.-Biography:...
's voyage around the Southern Hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere
The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...
. The specimen was lost in a shipwreck, but a painting entitled Mérion leucoptère by Jacques Arago
Jacques Arago
Jacques Étienne Victor Arago was a French writer, artist and explorer, author of a Voyage Round the World.-Biography:...
survived and led to the bird's description in 1824 by French ornithologist Charles Dumont de Sainte-Croix. The name for the species was derived from the Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
leuko- 'white' and pteron 'wing'.
Ironically, the original specimen was of the black-plumaged subspecies from Dirk Hartog Island
Dirk Hartog Island
Dirk Hartog Island is an island off the Gascoyne coast of Western Australia, within the Shark Bay World Heritage Area. It is about 80 kilometres long and between 3 and 15 kilometres wide and is Western Australia's largest and most western island. It covers an area of 620 square kilometres and is...
, which was not recorded again for 80 years. Meanwhile, the widespread blue-plumaged subspecies was discovered and described as two separate species by John Gould
John Gould
John Gould was an English ornithologist and bird artist. The Gould League in Australia was named after him. His identification of the birds now nicknamed "Darwin's finches" played a role in the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection...
in 1865. He called one specimen collected from inland New South Wales the White-winged Superb Warbler, M. cyanotus, while another, which appeared to have a white back and wings, was described as M. leuconotus, the White-backed Superb Warbler. It was not until the early 20th century that both of these blue-plumaged mainland forms were found to be of a single species. George Mack
George Mack (ornithologist)
George Mack was mainly a museum ornithologist and collector. He migrated from Britain to Western Australia in 1919. He worked at the National Museum of Victoria from 1923 to 1945. During this time, he published a revision of the Australian species of the Fairy-wren genus Malurus...
, ornithologist of the National Museum of Victoria
Museum Victoria
Museum Victoria is an organisation which operates three major state-owned museums in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; these are: the Melbourne Museum, the Immigration Museum and Scienceworks. It also manages the Royal Exhibition Building and a storage facility in Melbourne's City of Moreland.Museum...
, considered the specific name leuconotus to take precedence in his 1934 revision of the genus, and more recent studies have followed suit. The back region between the shoulders is in fact bare, with feathers that arise from the shoulder (scapular) region and sweep inwards in different patterns. This variation confused the early naturalists who described the white-backed and blue-backed species.
The White-winged Fairywren was often referred to as the Blue-and-white Wren, and early observers, such as Norman Favaloro
Norman Joseph Favaloro
Norman Joseph Favaloro was an Australian lawyer and amateur ornithologist and oologist. He practiced law in Mildura, Victoria where he lived most of his life. In 1940 he was appointed an Honorary Associate in the Ornithology Department of the National Miseum of Victoria, an association he...
of Victoria, refer to them by this name. However, like other fairywrens, the White-winged Fairywren is unrelated to the true wren
Wren
The wrens are passerine birds in the mainly New World family Troglodytidae. There are approximately 80 species of true wrens in approximately 20 genera....
(family Troglodytidae). It was previously classified as a member of the old world flycatcher family Muscicapidae, and later as a member of the warbler family Sylviidae
Sylviidae
Sylviidae is a family of passerine birds that was part of an assemblage known as the Old World warblers. The family was formerly a wastebin taxon with over 400 species of bird in over 70 genera. The family was poorly defined with many characteristics shared with other families...
, before they were placed in the newly recognised Maluridae
Maluridae
The Maluridae are a family of small, insectivorous passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea. Commonly known as wrens, they are unrelated to the true wrens of the Northern Hemisphere...
in 1975. More recently, DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
analysis has shown the Maluridae family to be related to the Meliphagidae (honeyeater
Honeyeater
The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family of small to medium sized birds most common in Australia and New Guinea, but also found in New Zealand, the Pacific islands as far east as Samoa and Tonga, and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea known as Wallacea...
s), and the Pardalotidae (pardalotes, scrubwrens, thornbills, gerygones and allies) in the large superfamily Meliphagoidea
Meliphagoidea
Meliphagoidea is a superfamily of passerine birds. They contain a vast diversity of small to mid-sized songbirds widespread in the Austropacific region. The Australian Continent has the largest richness in genera and species.-Systematics:...
.
Within the Maluridae, it is one of 12 species in the genus, Malurus
Malurus
Malurus is a genus of bird in the Maluridae family.It contains the following species:* White-shouldered Fairywren * Lovely Fairywren * Purple-crowned Fairywren...
. It is most closely related to the Australian Red-backed Fairywren, with which it makes up a phylogenetic clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
with the White-shouldered Fairywren of New Guinea as the next closest relative. Termed the bicoloured wrens by ornithologist Richard Schodde
Richard Schodde
Richard Schodde, OAM is an Australian botanist and ornithologist.Schodde studied at the University of Adelaide where he received a BSc in 1960 and a PhD in 1970. During the 1960s he was a botanist with the CSIRO Division of Land Research and Regional Survey in Papua New Guinea...
, these three species are notable for their lack of head patterns and ear tufts and their uniform black or blue plumage with contrasting shoulder or wing colour; they replace each other geographically across northern Australia and New Guinea.
Subspecies
There are three recognised subspeciesSubspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
of Malurus leucopterus. Both black-plumaged forms have been called Black-and-white Fairywren.
- M. l. leuconotus is endemic to mainland Australia and distinct in that it is the only subspecies to have nuptial males that show prominent blue-and-white plumage. The name of this species is derived from the Ancient Greek leukos 'white' and notos 'back'. Birds in the southern parts of its range tend to be smaller than those in the north.
- M. l. leucopterus is restricted to Dirk Hartog IslandDirk Hartog IslandDirk Hartog Island is an island off the Gascoyne coast of Western Australia, within the Shark Bay World Heritage Area. It is about 80 kilometres long and between 3 and 15 kilometres wide and is Western Australia's largest and most western island. It covers an area of 620 square kilometres and is...
, off the western coast of AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and nuptial males display black-and-white plumage. This subspecies is the smallest of the three and bears a proportionally longer tail. It was collected again in 1916 by Tom Carter, 98 years after de Freycinet's expedition collected the type specimen. - M. l. edouardi, like M. l. leucopterus, have black-and-white coloured males, and are found only on Barrow IslandBarrow Island (Western Australia)Barrow Island is a island located northwest off the coast of Western Australia. The island is the second largest in Western Australia after Dirk Hartog Island.-Discovery and early history:...
, also off the western coast of Australia. Birds of this subspecies are larger than those of M. l. leucopterus but have a shorter tail. The female has a more cinnamon tinge to her plumage than the grey-brown of the other two subspecies. It was described by A.J. Campbell in 1901.
M. l. leucopterus and M. l. edouardi are both generally smaller than their mainland relatives, and both subspecies tend to have smaller family groups that consist of only one male and one female, with an occasional helper bird. While the island subspecies and mainland species have been found to have similar social structure, breeding pairs on both islands have, on average, smaller clutches, longer incubation times, and fewer live fledglings. Additionally, while M. l. leuconotus is considered of Least Concern
Least Concern
Least Concern is an IUCN category assigned to extant taxon or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, Near Threatened, or Conservation Dependent...
by the IUCN due to its widespread occurrence, both island subspecies are considered vulnerable by the Australian government due to their delicate nesting sites that are easily disturbed by human construction and habitation.
Evolutionary history
Both island subspecies are nearer in genetic distanceGenetic distance
Genetic distance refers to the genetic divergence between species or between populations within a species. It is measured by a variety of parameters. Smaller genetic distances indicate a close genetic relationship whereas large genetic distances indicate a more distant genetic relationship...
to mainland populations of leuconotus than to each other; Dirk Hartog Island is 2 km (1¼ mi) from the mainland while Barrow Island is 56 km (35 mi) from the mainland. Gene flow
Gene flow
In population genetics, gene flow is the transfer of alleles of genes from one population to another.Migration into or out of a population may be responsible for a marked change in allele frequencies...
between the populations existed at the beginning of the present interglacial
Interglacial
An Interglacial period is a geological interval of warmer global average temperature lasting thousands of years that separates consecutive glacial periods within an ice age...
period, some 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, at a time when sea levels were lower and both islands connected with the mainland.
There are three theories as to how the three races of White-winged Fairywren could have evolved. The first suggests that black-and-white plumage is an ancestral condition and, following separation of the three populations, blue-and-white plumage evolved in the mainland species. The second hypothesis suggests that black-and-white plumage evolved convergently on the two separate islands. The third suggests that black-and-white plumage evolved once from the blue-and-white ancestral condition, and later the mainland species re-evolved blue plumage.
The distribution of the three bi-coloured fairywren species indicates their ancestors lived across New Guinea and northern Australia in a period when sea levels were lower and the two regions were joined by a land bridge. Populations became separated as sea levels rose, and New Guinea birds evolved into the White-shouldered Fairywren, and Australian forms into the Red-backed Fairywren and the arid-adapted White-winged Fairywren.
Description
Inch
An inch is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, and United States customary units. There are 36 inches in a yard and 12 inches in a foot...
) in length, White-winged Fairywrens are one of the two smallest species of Malurus. Males typically weigh between 7.2 g
Gram
The gram is a metric system unit of mass....
(0.25 oz
Ounce
The ounce is a unit of mass with several definitions, the most commonly used of which are equal to approximately 28 grams. The ounce is used in a number of different systems, including various systems of mass that form part of the imperial and United States customary systems...
) and 10.9 g (0.38 oz) while females weigh between 6.8 g (0.24 oz) and 11 g (0.39 oz). Averaging 8.5 mm (0.334645669291339 in) in males and 8.4 mm (0.330708661417323 in) in females, the bill
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
is relatively long, narrow and pointed and wider at the base. Wider than it is deep, the bill is similar in shape to those of other birds that feed by probing for or picking insects off their environs. It is finer and more pointed in this species than in other fairywrens.
Fully mature adults are sexually dimorphic
Sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...
, with the male being larger and differing in colour from the female. The adult female is sandy-brown with a very light blue tail, and a pinkish buff bill. The male in breeding plumage has a black bill, white wings and shoulders, and a wholly cobalt blue
Cobalt blue
Cobalt blue is a cool, slightly desaturated blue color, historically made using cobalt salts of alumina. It is used in certain ceramics and painting; the different cobalt pigment smalt, based on silica, is more often used directly in tinted transparent glasses...
or black body (depending on subspecies). These contrasting white feathers are especially highlighted in flight and ground displays in breeding season. The male in eclipse plumage resembles the female, though it may be distinguished by its darker bill. Both sexes have long, slender, distinct tails held at an upward angle from their bodies. Measuring around 6.25 cm (2½ in), the tail feathers have a white fringe, which disappears with wear.
Nestlings, fledglings, and juveniles have brown plumage and pink-brown bills with shorter tails than adults. Young males develop blue tail feathers and darker bills by late summer or autumn (following a spring or summer breeding season), while young females develop light blue tails. By the subsequent spring, all males are fertile and have developed cloacal protuberances, which store sperm. In contrast, during the breeding season, fertile females develop oedematous brood patches, which are bare areas on their bellies.
Males entering their second or third year may develop spotty blue and white plumage during the breeding season. By their fourth year, males have assumed their nuptial plumage, where the scapulars, secondary wing coverts, and secondary flight feather
Flight feather
Flight feathers are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges while those on the tail are called rectrices . Their primary function is to aid in the generation of both thrust and lift, thereby...
s are white while the rest of their bodies are a vibrant cobalt blue
Cobalt blue
Cobalt blue is a cool, slightly desaturated blue color, historically made using cobalt salts of alumina. It is used in certain ceramics and painting; the different cobalt pigment smalt, based on silica, is more often used directly in tinted transparent glasses...
. All sexually mature males moult twice a year, once before the breeding season in winter or spring, and again afterwards in autumn; rarely, a male may moult directly from nuptial to nuptial plumage. The breeding males' blue plumage, particularly the ear-coverts, is highly iridescent due to the flattened and twisted surface of the barbules. The blue plumage also reflects ultraviolet
Ultraviolet
Ultraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm, and energies from 3 eV to 124 eV...
light strongly, and so may be even more prominent to other fairywrens, whose colour vision extends into this part of the spectrum
Electromagnetic spectrum
The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation. The "electromagnetic spectrum" of an object is the characteristic distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted or absorbed by that particular object....
.
Vocalisations
In 1980, Tideman characterised five different patterns of calls among Malurus leucopterus leuconotus; these were recognised by Pruett and Jones among the island subspecies M. l. edouardi. The main call is a reelReel (disambiguation)
A reel is an object around which lengths of another material are wound for storage.Reel may also refer to:* Reel , a type of dance and its accompanying music* Reel , a Thoroughbred racehorse and prolific broodmare...
made by both sexes in order to establish territory and unify the group. It is a long song of “rising and falling notes” that is first signaled by 3–5 chip notes. Although seemingly weak in sound, the reel carries a long way above the stunted shrubland. A harsh trit call is often used to establish contact (especially between mothers and their young) and to raise alarm; it is characterised by a series of “loud and abrupt” calls that vary in frequency and intensity. Adults will use a high-pitched peep that may be made intermittently with reels as a contact call to birds that are more distant. Nestlings, fledglings, and females around the nest will use high pips—quiet, high-pitched, and short calls. When used by a mature female, they are mixed with harsh calls. Nestlings may also make “gurgling” noises when they are being fed. The subordinate helpers and feeders may also make this sound.
Distribution and habitat
The White-winged Fairywren is well adapted to dry environments, and M.l. leuconotus is found throughout aridArid
A region is said to be arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available water, to the extent of hindering or even preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life...
and semi-arid environments between latitudes 19 and 32oS in mainland Australia. It occupies coastal Western Australia from around Port Hedland
Port Hedland, Western Australia
Port Hedland is the highest tonnage port in Australia and largest town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, with a population of approximately 14,000 ....
south to Perth, and stretches eastwards over to Mount Isa
Mount Isa, Queensland
-Culture and sport:The local theatre group, the Mount Isa Theatrical Society, or MITS, often holds plays and musicals, at least once every few months or so....
in Queensland, and along the western parts of the Great Dividing Range
Great Dividing Range
The Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the third longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through...
through central Queensland and central western New South Wales, into the northwestern corner of Victoria and the Eyre Peninsula
Eyre Peninsula
Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded on the east by Spencer Gulf, the west by the Great Australian Bight, and the north by the Gawler Ranges. It is named after explorer Edward John Eyre who explored some of it in 1839-1841. The coastline was first explored by...
and across the Nullarbor. It commonly cohabits with other species of fairywren, including the Purple-backed Fairy-wren (M. lamberti assimilis). White-winged Fairywrens often inhabit heathlands
Heath (habitat)
A heath or heathland is a dwarf-shrub habitat found on mainly low quality acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often dominated by plants of the Ericaceae. There are some clear differences between heath and moorland...
or treeless shrublands dominated by saltbush (Atriplex
Atriplex
Atriplex is a plant genus of 100-200 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache . The genus is quite variable and widely distributed. It includes many desert and seashore plants and halophytes, as well as plants of moist environments...
) and small shrubs of the genus Maireana
Maireana
Maireana is a genus of around 57 species of perennial shrubs and herbs in the family Amaranthaceae which are endemic to Australia. Species in this genus were formerly classified within the genus Kochia...
, or grasses such as tussock grass (Triodia
Triodia (plant genus)
Triodia is a large genus of hummock-forming grass endemic to Australia; they are commonly known as spinifex, although they are not a part of the coastal genus Spinifex. There are currently 64 recognised species...
) and cane-grass (Zygochloa
Zygochloa
Zygochloa is a monotypic genus of grass endemic to Australia. Its only species is Zygochloa paradoxa. It occurs in extremely arid areas such as the Simpson Desert.-References:*Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 1992 onwards...
), as well as floodplain
Floodplain
A floodplain, or flood plain, is a flat or nearly flat land adjacent a stream or river that stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls and experiences flooding during periods of high discharge...
areas vegetated with lignum (Muehlenbeckia florulenta
Muehlenbeckia florulenta
Muehlenbeckia florulenta, commonly known as Tangled Lignum or often simply Lignum, is a plant native to inland Australia. It is associated with wetland habitats, especially those in arid and semiarid regions subject to cycles of intermittent flooding and drying out...
). M. l. leucopterus inhabits similar habitats on Dirk Hartog Island and M. l. edouardi does the same on Barrow Island. The White-winged Fairywren is replaced to the north of its range on mainland Australia by the Red-backed Fairywren.
Behaviour
The usual form of locomotion is hopping, with both feet leaving the ground and landing simultaneously. However, birds may run when performing the rodent-run display. Its balance is assisted by a proportionally large tail, which is usually held upright and rarely still. The short, rounded wings provide good initial lift and are useful for short flights, though not for extended jaunts.White-winged Fairywrens live in complex social groups. Clans consist of 2–4 birds, typically one brown or partially blue male and a breeding female. Nest helpers
Helpers at the nest
Helpers at the nest is a term used in behavioural ecology and evolutionary biology to describe a social structure in which juveniles and sexually mature adolescents of either one or both sexes, remain in association with their parents and help them raise subsequent broods or litters, instead of...
are birds raised in previous years which remain with the family group after fledging and assist in raising young; they may be male that have retained their brown plumage, or female. Birds in a group roost side-by-side in dense cover and engage in mutual preening. Several subgroups live within one territory and make up a clan, which is presided over by one blue (or black) male who assumes breeding plumage. While the blue male is dominant to the rest of the brown and partially blue males within his clan, he nests with only one female and contributes to the raising of only her young. It is unclear whether or not he fathers young in any of the other nests within his territory.
Each clan has a specified area of land that all members contribute to foraging from and defending. Frequently, territory sizes, normally 4–6 ha
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
(10–15 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s), are correlated with the abundance of rain and resources in a region; smaller territories occur where insects and resources are plentiful. Additionally, the feeding territories are larger during the winter months when these birds spend much of their time foraging with the entire clan. White-winged Fairywrens occupy much larger territories than other fairywren species.
Observed in this species, the wing-fluttering display is seen in several situations: females responding, and presumably acquiescing, to male courtship displays, juveniles begging for food, by helpers to older birds, and immature males to senior ones. The fairywren lowers its head and tail, outstretches and quivers its wings and holds its beak open silently.
Both the male and female adult White-winged Fairywren may utilise a rodent-run display to distract predators from nests with young birds. The head, neck and tail are lowered, the wings are held out and the feathers are fluffed as the bird runs rapidly and voices a continuous alarm call.
Feeding
The White-winged Fairywren is primarily insectivorous; its diet includes small beetleBeetle
Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...
s, bugs
Hemiptera
Hemiptera is an order of insects most often known as the true bugs , comprising around 50,000–80,000 species of cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, shield bugs, and others...
, moth
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
s, praying mantises, caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
s, and smaller insects, including spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
s. The larger insects are typically fed to nestlings by the breeding female and her helpers, including the breeding male. Adults and juveniles forage by hopping along the shrubland floor, and may supplement their diets with seeds and fruits of saltbush (Rhagodia
Rhagodia
Rhagodia is a genus of shrubs native to Australia. They are common in salt marsh and may be succulent, like other salt tolerant species its members are commonly known as saltbushes.Species include:...
), goosefoot (Chenopodium
Chenopodium
Chenopodium is a genus of about 150 species of perennial or annual herbaceous flowering plants known as the goosefoots, which occur almost anywhere in the world. It is placed in the family Amaranthaceae in the APG II system; older classifications separate it and its relatives as Chenopodiaceae, but...
) and new shoots of samphire
Samphire
Samphire is a name given to a number of very different edible plants that happen to grow in coastal areas.*Rock samphire, Crithmum maritimum is a coastal species with white flowers that grows in the United Kingdom...
. During spring and summer, birds are active in bursts through the day and accompany their foraging with song. Insects are numerous and easy to catch, which allows the birds to rest between forays. The group often shelters and rests together during the heat of the day. Food is harder to find during winter and they are required to spend the day foraging continuously.
Courtship and breeding
Fairywrens exhibit one of the highest incidences of extra-pair mating, and many broodOffspring
In biology, offspring is the product of reproduction, of a new organism produced by one or more parents.Collective offspring may be known as a brood or progeny in a more general way...
s are brought up a by male who is not the natural father. However, courtship methods among White-winged Fairywrens remain unclear. Blue-plumaged males have been seen outside of their territory and in some cases, carrying pink or purple petals, which among other species advertise the male to neighboring females. In contrast, black-plumaged males on Barrow and Dirk Hartog islands often carry blue petals. While petal-carrying outside of clan territories strongly suggests mating with other females is occurring, further genetic analysis is necessary.
During another courtship display the male bows deeply forward facing the female, reaching the ground with his bill and spreading and flattening his plumage in a near-horizontal plane for up to 20 seconds. In this pose, the white plumage forms a striking white band across his darker plumage.
Breeding females begin to build their nests in the spring and construct domed structures composed of spiderwebs
Spiderwebs
"Spiderwebs" is a ska punk song written by Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal for No Doubt's third studio album Tragic Kingdom . It was released as the album's second single in 1995 . When "Spiderwebs" reached the radio airwaves in the U.S, it began a revival of the ska genre. The song is a combination of...
, fine grasses, thistle-down, and vegetable-down, typically 6–14 cm (2⅓–5½ in) tall and 3–9 mm thick. Each nest has a small entrance on one side and they are normally placed in thick shrubs close to the ground. A clutch
Clutch (eggs)
A clutch of eggs refers to all the eggs produced by birds or reptiles, often at a single time, particularly those laid in a nest.In birds, destruction of a clutch by predators, , results in double-clutching...
of 3–4 eggs is generally laid anywhere from September to January, with incubation
Avian incubation
Incubation refers to the process by which certain oviparous animals hatch their eggs, and to the development of the embryo within the egg. The most vital factor of incubation is the constant temperature required for its development over a specific period. Especially in domestic fowl, the act of...
lasting around 14 days. The White-winged Fairywren generally breeds in the spring in the southwest of Western Australia, but is more opportunistic in arid regions of central and northern Australia, with breeding recorded almost any month after a period of rainfall. Incubation is by the breeding female alone, while the breeding male (a brown or blue male) and nest helpers aid in feeding the nestlings and removing their fecal sac
Fecal sac
A fecal sac is a mucous membrane, generally white or clear with a dark end, that surrounds the feces of some species of nestling birds. It allows parent birds to more easily remove fecal material from the nest...
s. The newly hatched nestlings are altricial
Altricial
Altricial, meaning "requiring nourishment", refers to a pattern of growth and development in organisms which are incapable of moving around on their own soon after hatching or being born...
, gaping immediately for food, and developing downy feather tracts and opening their eyes by the third or fourth day. Nestlings remain in the nest for 10–11 days, and fledglings continue to be fed for 3–4 weeks following their departure from the nest. Fledglings then either stay on to help raise the next brood or move to a nearby territory. It is not unusual for a pair bond to hatch and raise two broods in one breeding season, and helpers tend to lessen the stress on the breeding female rather than increase the overall number of feedings. Like other fairywrens, the White-winged Fairywren is particularly prone to parasitic nesting
Brood parasite
Brood parasites are organisms that use the strategy of brood parasitism, a kind of kleptoparasitism found among birds, fish or insects, involving the manipulation and use of host individuals either of the same or different species to raise the young of the brood-parasite...
by the Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo (Chalcites basalis). Parasitism by the Shining Bronze Cuckoo (C. lucidus) and Black-eared Cuckoo
Black-eared Cuckoo
The Black-eared Cuckoo is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family.It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on 24 July 2007....
(C. osculans) is rarely recorded.
Predators and threats
Adults and their young may be preyed upon by mammalian predators, such as the red foxRed Fox
The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...
(Vulpes vulpes) or the feral cat
Feral cat
A feral cat is a descendant of a domesticated cat that has returned to the wild. It is distinguished from a stray cat, which is a pet cat that has been lost or abandoned, while feral cats are born in the wild; the offspring of a stray cat can be considered feral if born in the wild.In many parts of...
(Felis catus), and native predatory birds, such as the Australian Magpie
Australian Magpie
The Australian Magpie is a medium-sized black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. A member of the Artamidae, it is closely related to the butcherbirds...
(Gymnorhina tibicen), butcherbird
Butcherbird
Butcherbirds are magpie-like birds in the genus Cracticus. They are native to Australasia. Their closest relatives are the three species of currawong...
species (Cracticus spp.), Laughing Kookaburra
Laughing Kookaburra
The Laughing Kookaburra, Dacelo novaeguineae, is a carnivorous bird in the kingfisher family Halcyonidae. Native to eastern Australia, it has also been introduced to parts of New Zealand, Tasmania and Western Australia. Male and female adults are similar in plumage, which is predominantly brown and...
(Dacelo novaeguineae), currawong
Currawong
Currawongs are three species of medium-sized passerine birds belonging to the genus Strepera in the family Artamidae native to Australasia. These are the Grey Currawong , Pied Currawong , and Black Currawong . The common name comes from the call of the familiar Pied Currawong of eastern Australia...
s (Strepera spp.), crow
Crow
Crows form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-size jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several...
s and raven
Raven
Raven is the common name given to several larger-bodied members of the genus Corvus—but in Europe and North America the Common Raven is normally implied...
s (Corvus spp.), shrike-thrush
Shrike-thrush
Colluricincla is a bird genus in the family Colluricinclidae, which was formerly included in the Pachycephalidae. Its members are known as the shrikethrushes.It contains the following species:* Bower's Shrikethrush, Colluricincla boweri...
es (Colluricincla spp.) and reptiles such as goanna
Goanna
Goanna is the name used to refer to any number of Australian monitor lizards of the genus Varanus, as well as to certain species from Southeast Asia.There are around 30 species of goanna, 25 of which are found in Australia...
s. Another threat to the birds is from humans; many nests are trampled on (even by the occasional bird watcher) during breeding season because the nests are hidden close to the ground and therefore difficult for passers-by to spot.
External links
- The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000 www.environment.gov.au
- White-winged Fairywren videos on the Internet Bird Collection