The family Maluridae are a group of small, insectivorous passerine birds, endemic to Australia and New Guinea, known commonly as the Australasian Wrens. There are 6 genera comprising 28 species – made up of 15 fairywrens, 3 emu-wrens, 11 grasswrens.
Emu-wrens
- Mallee Emu-wren (Stipiturus mallee)
- Rufous-crowned Emu-wren (Stipiturus ruficeps)
- Southern Emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus)
Southern Emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus)
Fairywrens
- Blue-breasted Fairy-wren (Malurus pulcherrimus) – southern WA, Eyre Peninsula SA
- Emperor Fairywren (Malurus cyanocephalus) – New Guinea
- Lovely Fairywren (Malurus amabilis) – north-eastern Australia
- Purple-backed Fairywren (Malurus assimilis) – central and Western Australia
- Purple-crowned Fairywren (Malurus coronatus) – northern Australia
- Red-backed Fairywren (Malurus melanocephalus) – Australia
- Red-winged Fairywren (Malurus elegans) – south-west corner of WA
- Splendid Fairywren (Malurus splendens) – central and Western Australia
- Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus) – Australia and New Guinea
- Variegated Fairywren (Malurus lamberti) – Australia
- White-shouldered Fairywren (Malurus alboscapulatus) – New Guinea
- White-winged Fairywren (Malurus leucopterus) – central QLD, SA, WA
There are several additional species, that are presently or were formerly in the genus Malurus, now in other genus such as Chenorhamphus and Sipodotus1:
- Wallace’s fairywren (as Malurus wallacei and Malurus wallacii)
- Broad-billed fairywren (as Malurus grayi)
- Campbell’s fairywren (as Malurus campbelli)
Purple-backed Fairywren (Malurus assimilis) Red-backed Fairywren (Malurus melanocephalus) Splendid Fairy-wren (Malurus splendens) White-winged Fairywren (Malurus leucopterus)
Grasswrens
- Black Grasswren (Amytornis housei)
- Carpentarian Grasswren (Amytornis dorotheae)
- Dusky grasswren (Amytornis purnelli)
- Eyrean Grasswren (Amytornis goyderi)
- Grey Grasswren (Amytornis barbatus)
- Kalkadoon grasswren (Amytornis ballarae)
- Opalton Grasswren (Amytornis rowleyi)
- Rufous Grasswren (Amytornis whitei)
- Short-tailed Grasswren (Amytornis merrotsyi)
- Striated Grasswren (Amytornis striatus)
- Thick-billed Grasswren (Amytornis modestus)
- Western Grasswren (Amytornis textilis)
- White-throated Grasswren (Amytornis woodwardi)
Dusky Grasswren (Amytornis purnelli)
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Aves
- Order: Passeriformes
- Superfamily: Meliphagoidea
- Family: Maluridae
- Genus:
Amytornis
Malurus
Stipiturus
At time of writing, there are currently 6 genera recognised2.
Footnote & References
- Malurus, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Malurus&oldid=1008854401 (last visited Aug. 23, 2021).
- Australasian wren, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasian_wren (last visited Aug. 23, 2021).
- Maluridae – Australasian Wrens, Fat Birder, https://fatbirder.com/ornithology/maluridae-australasian-wrens/