Fairywren
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Australasian wrens are a
family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
, Maluridae, of small, insectivorous
passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...
bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
s endemic to
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
. While commonly known as wrens, they are unrelated to the true wrens. The family comprises 32
species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
(including sixteen fairywrens, three
emu-wren The emu-wrens (''Stipiturus'') are a genus of passerine birds in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. They are found only in Australia, where they inhabit scrubland, scrub, heathland and grassland. They are small birds, 12–19 cm long w ...
s, and thirteen
grasswren Grasswrens (''Amytornis)'' are a genus of birds in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. Taxonomy and systematics ''Amytornis'' is the only genus classified within the subfamily Amytornithinae, and form a separate clade to the related fair ...
s) in six genera.


Taxonomy and systematics

As with many other Australian creatures, and perhaps more than most, the species making up this family were comprehensively misunderstood by early researchers. They were variously classified as
Old World flycatcher The Old World flycatchers are a large family, the Muscicapidae, of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World (Europe, Africa and Asia), with the exception of several vagrants and two species, bluethroat (''Luscinia svecica'') and north ...
s,
Old World warbler The Old World warblers are a large group of birds formerly grouped together in the bird family Sylviidae. They are not closely related to the New World warblers. The family held over 400 species in over 70 genera, and were the source of much taxo ...
s, and
Old World babbler The Old World babblers or Timaliidae, are a family (biology), family of mostly Old World passerine birds. They are rather diverse in size and coloration, but are characterised by soft, fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the g ...
s. In the late 1960s, morphological studies began to suggest that the Australo-Papuan fairywrens, the
grasswren Grasswrens (''Amytornis)'' are a genus of birds in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. Taxonomy and systematics ''Amytornis'' is the only genus classified within the subfamily Amytornithinae, and form a separate clade to the related fair ...
s,
emu-wren The emu-wrens (''Stipiturus'') are a genus of passerine birds in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. They are found only in Australia, where they inhabit scrubland, scrub, heathland and grassland. They are small birds, 12–19 cm long w ...
s and two monotypic wren-like genera from New Guinea were related and, following
Charles Sibley Charles Gald Sibley (August 7, 1917 – April 12, 1998) was an American ornithologist and molecular biologist. He had an immense influence on the scientific classification of birds, and the work that Sibley initiated has substantially altered our u ...
's pioneering work on egg-white proteins in the mid-1970s, Australian researchers adopted the family name Maluridae in 1975. With further morphological work and the great strides made in
DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...
analysis towards the end of the 20th century, their position became clear: the Maluridae are one of the many families to have emerged from the great corvid radiation in Australasia. Their closest relatives are the
honeyeater The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, miners and melidectes. They are most common in Australia and New Gui ...
s (Meliphagidae), and the
pardalote Pardalotes or peep-wrens are a family (biology), family, Pardalotidae, of very small, brightly coloured birds native to Australia, with short tails, strong legs, and stubby blunt beaks. This family is composed of four species in one genus, ''Pard ...
s (Pardalotidae). Their obvious similarity to the wrens of Europe and America is not genetic, but simply the consequence of
convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last comm ...
between more-or-less unrelated species that share the same ecological niche. A 2011 analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA found the
broad-billed fairywren The broad-billed fairywren (''Chenorhamphus grayi'') is a species of bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is found in northern and north-western New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Ta ...
and
Campbell's fairywren Campbell's fairywren (''Chenorhamphus campbelli'') is a species of bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is found in New Guinea. It is found in south-central and south-eastern New Guinea in its natural habitat of subtropical or tro ...
, both formerly lumped together in the genus ''Malurus,'' to lie in a
clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...
with the two other monospecific New Guinea genera and as such, they were later re-classified as separate species within the genus ''Chenorhamphus''. Currently, there are 6 genera recognized: Family Maluridae * Subfamily Malurinae ** Tribe Malurini – fairywrens ***Genus '' Sipodotus ''– Wallace's fairywren ***Genus ''
Chenorhamphus ''Chenorhamphus'' is a genus of birds in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. Taxonomy and systematics The species of the genus ''Chenorhamphus'' were formerly classified in the genus ''Malurus'' until a 2011 analysis of mitochondrial an ...
'' – (2 species) *** Genus ''
Malurus ''Malurus'' is a genus of bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. Taxonomy and systematics Extant species The following table reports the English names proposed for the twelve species recognised by the listing of the International O ...
'' – (12 species) *** Genus ''
Clytomyias The orange-crowned fairywren (''Clytomyias insignis'') is a species of passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Clytomyias''. It is found on New Guinea in its natural habitat of subtropical or ...
'' –
Orange-crowned fairywren The orange-crowned fairywren (''Clytomyias insignis'') is a species of passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Clytomyias''. It is found on New Guinea in its natural habitat of subtropical or ...
** Tribe Stipiturini *** Genus ''
Stipiturus The emu-wrens (''Stipiturus'') are a genus of passerine birds in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. They are found only in Australia, where they inhabit scrub, heathland and grassland. They are small birds, 12–19 cm long with the t ...
'' – emu-wrens (3 species) * Subfamily Amytornithinae ** Genus '' Amytornis'' – grasswrens (13 species)


Description

Malurids are small to medium birds, inhabiting a wide range of environments from rainforest to desert, although most species inhabit grassland or scrub. The grasswrens are well camouflaged with black and brown patterns, but other species often have brilliantly coloured plumage, especially in the males. They are
insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores we ...
, typically foraging in underbrush. They build domed nests in areas of dense vegetation, and it is not unusual for the young to remain in the nest and assist in raising chicks from later clutches. Fairywrens are notable for several peculiar behavioral characteristics. They are
socially monogamous Monogamy ( ) is a relationship of two individuals in which they form a mutual and exclusive intimate partnership. Having only one partner at any one time, whether for life or serial monogamy, contrasts with various forms of non-monogamy (e.g., ...
and sexually
promiscuous Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous by man ...
, meaning that although they form pairs between one male and one female, each partner will mate with other individuals and even assist in raising the young from such pairings. Males of several species pluck petals of conspicuous colours and display them to females for reasons unknown. The song of fairywrens is pleasant and complex, and at least two species ( the superb and
splendid fairywren The splendid fairywren (''Malurus splendens'') is a passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is also known simply as the splendid wren or more colloquially in Western Australia as the blue wren. The splendid fairywren is fo ...
) possess, in addition to the alarm calls common toand universally understood bymost small birds, another vocalization used when confronted by predators. This, termed "Type II Vocalization," is song-like and used when confronted by calling
butcherbird Butcherbirds are songbirds closely related to the Australian magpie. Most are found in the genus ''Cracticus'', but the black butcherbird is placed in the monotypic genus ''Melloria''. They are native to Australasia. Taxonomy Together with thr ...
s, and sometimes other predatory birds. Its purpose is, however, unknown; it does not seem to be a warning call.


References


Further reading

* Hoyo, J. del; Elliot, A. & Christie D., eds. (2007). ''
Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...
''. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions.


External links


Maluridae videos
on the Internet Bird Collection
Meliphagoidea
- Highlighting relationships of Maluridae on Tree Of Life Web Project {{Authority control Birds of Oceania Fauna of the Australasian realm