BIRD SPECIES

Splendid Fairy Wren

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Malurus splendens

The Splendid Fairy Wren is a small bird with a long blue tail the is held cocked. It is also known simply as the Splendid Wren or more colloquially in Western Australia as the Blue Wren.

This small, long-tailed bird is 5.5 inches long and has a weight of 9 grams.

Breeding males are distinctive with a predominantly bright blue and black coloration.

Non-breeding males are brown with blue in the wings and a bluish tail.

Females resemble the non-breeding males but have a chestnut bill and eye- patch.

Both males and females molt in autumn after breeding, with males assuming an eclipse non-breeding plumage. They will molt again into nuptial plumage in winter or spring.

Some older males, however, may remain blue all year, molting directly from one year's nuptial plumage to the next.

CALL: Described as a gushing reel; this is harsher and louder than other fairywrens and varies from individual to individual.

A soft single "trrt" serves as a contact call within a foraging group, while the alarm call is a "tsit".

Cuckoos and other intruders may be greeted with a threat posture and "churring" threat. Females emit a "purr" while brooding.

Diet includes a wide range of small creatures, mostly arthropods such as ants, grasshoppers, crickets, spiders and bugs. This is supplemented by small quantities of seeds, flowers, and fruit.

Inhabit predominantly arid and semi-arid regions. They live in savannah, shrubland, dry forests, woodlands of acacia, and mallee eucalypt with dense shrubs.

Occur on the Australian continent from central-western New South Wales and southwestern Queensland over to coastal Western Australia.

Nest is built by the female. It is a round or domed structure made of loosely woven grasses and spider webs, with an entrance in one side close to the ground and well- concealed in thick and often thorny vegetation.

One or two broods may be laid during the breeding season. The female lays a clutch of 2 - 4 dull white eggs with reddish-brown splotches and spots which she incubates for 14 - 15 days.

SOURCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org
http://animalia.bio
https://ebird.org