Southern Downs BirdsSatin Bowerbird Spotted Pardalote Striated Pardalote Superb Fairy-wren
The Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus) are one of those birds that are a pleasure to watch when they are around, especially if they have made themselves at home in your neighbourhood.
They are a small bird with a long tail, that is usually held cocked. The tail of both the male and female bird is usually blue, except in the juveniles, which have brown tails.
Breeding males have a pale blue crown, cheek, and back with a thick black line that extends from the bill through the eyes and around the back of the head. The non-breeding males are a grayish-brown with black bills and bright blue tails.
The tails of the females bird are also blue, but not as strong as the males. The female have a reddish bill. The lores (the areas from the bill, on either side and extending to the front of the eyes) on the female bird is a reddish colour.
A young bird just starting to get his adult plumage ready for the coming season. I have seen these birds doing the furgling thing. A male bird from another group arrives with a yellow petal in it’s beak, whereupon the local dominant male allows him to have his way with all his females. Furgling is a form of kleptogomy (literally “marriage theft”) observed during the breeding season in Superb Fairy-wrens Malurus cyaneus. I guess this prevents inbreeding.
Author Marc Newman
Here is a “Jenny” or female.
Check out the blog by Marc Newman… Will you still love me, when I lose my looks… and our Birds > Australasian Wrens > Superb Fairywren.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Subphylum: Vertebrata
- Informal: Gnathostomata
- Class: Aves
- Order: Passeriformes
- Suborder: Passeri
- Informal: Passerida
- Family: Maluridae
- Subfamily: Malurinae
- Genus: Malurus
- Subgenus: infrageneric Malurus
- Species: Malurus cyaneus
Southern Downs BirdsSatin Bowerbird Spotted Pardalote Striated Pardalote Superb Fairy-wren
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