Red-backed Fairywren
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The red-backed fairywren (''Malurus melanocephalus'') is a species of
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 ...
in the
Australasian wren The Australasian wrens are a family, Maluridae, of small, insectivorous passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea. While commonly known as wrens, they are unrelated to the true wrens. The family comprises 32 species (including sixteen ...
family, Maluridae. It is
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to Australia and can be found near rivers and coastal areas along the northern and eastern coastlines from the
Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...
in the northwest to the
Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, Newcastle Region, or simply Hunter, spans the region in northern New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River (New Sout ...
in New South Wales. The male adopts a striking breeding plumage, with a black head, upperparts and tail, and a brightly coloured red back and brown wings. The female has brownish upperparts and paler underparts. The male in
eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...
plumage and the juvenile resemble the female. Some males remain in non-breeding plumage while breeding. Two subspecies are recognised; the
nominate Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In th ...
''M. m.'' ''melanocephalus'' of eastern Australia has a longer tail and orange back, and the short-tailed ''M. m. cruentatus'' from northern Australia has a redder back. The red-backed fairywren mainly eats insects, and supplements its diet with seed and small fruit. The preferred habitat is heathland and
savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...
, particularly where low shrubs and tall grasses provide cover. It can be nomadic in areas where there are frequent bushfires, although pairs or small groups of birds maintain and defend territories year-round in other parts of its range. Groups consist of a 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. ...
pair with one or more helper birds who assist in raising the young. These helpers are progeny that have attained sexual maturity yet remain with the family group for one or more years after fledging. The red-backed fairywren is 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 ...
, and each partner may mate with other individuals and even assist in raising the young from such pairings. Older males in breeding plumage are more likely to engage in this behaviour than are those breeding in eclipse plumage. As part of a
courtship display A courtship display is a set of display behaviors in which an animal, usually a male, attempts to attract a mate; the mate exercises choice, so sexual selection acts on the display. These behaviors often include ritualized movement ("dances"), ...
, the male wren plucks red petals from flowers and displays them to females.


Taxonomy and systematics

The red-backed fairywren was first collected from the vicinity of Port Stephens in New South Wales and described by ornithologist John Latham in 1801 as the black-headed flycatcher (''Muscicapa melanocephala''); its specific epithet derived from the
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
μέλας, ''melas'' 'black' and κεφαλή, ''kephalē'' 'head'. However, the specimen used by Latham was a male in partial moult, with mixed black and brown plumage and an orange back, and he named it for its black head. A male in full adult plumage was described as ''Sylvia dorsalis'', and the explorers
Nicholas Aylward Vigors Nicholas Aylward Vigors (1785 – 26 October 1840) was an Ireland, Irish zoologist and politician. He popularized the classification of birds on the basis of the quinarian system. Early life Vigors was born at Old Leighlin, County Carlow, in 1 ...
and
Thomas Horsfield Thomas Horsfield (May 12, 1773 – July 24, 1859) was an American physician and natural history, naturalist who worked extensively in Indonesia, describing numerous species of plants and animals from the region. He was later a curator of the Eas ...
gave a third specimen from central Queensland the name ''Malurus brownii'', honouring botanist
Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and author Entertainers and artists * Washboard Sam or Robert Brown (1910–1966), American musician and singer * Robert W. Brown (1917–2009), American printmaker ...
.
John Gould John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist who published monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould (illustrator), Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, includ ...
described ''Malurus cruentatus'' in 1840 from a short-tailed scarlet-backed specimen collected in Northwestern Australia by
Benjamin Bynoe Benjamin Bynoe (1803–1865) was surgeon on the voyages of HMS ''Beagle'' who made collections of plants and animals at the western and northern coasts of Australia. Born in Barbados in 1803, Benjamin Bynoe was accepted by the Royal College of S ...
aboard on its third voyage. The first three names were synonymised into ''Malurus melanocephalus'' by Gould who maintained his form as a separate species. An intermediate form from north Queensland was described as ''pyrrhonotus''. Ornithologist
Tom Iredale Tom Iredale (24 March 1880 – 12 April 1972) was an English-born ornithologist and malacologist who had a long association with Australia, where he lived for most of his life. He was an Autodidacticism, autodidact who never went to university ...
proposed the common name "elfin-wren" in 1939; however, this was not taken up.Rowley & Russell ''(Families of the World:Fairywrens and Grasswrens)'', p. 3 Like other fairywrens, the red-backed fairywren is unrelated to the true
wren Wrens are a family, Troglodytidae, of small brown passerine birds. The family includes 96 species and is divided into 19 genera. All species are restricted to the New World except for the Eurasian wren that is widely distributed in the Old Worl ...
family, Troglodytidae. It was previously classified as a member of the
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 ...
family, Muscicapidae, and later as a member of the warbler family,
Sylviidae Sylviidae is a family of passerine birds that includes the typical warblers ''Sylvia'', and closely related genus '' Curruca'', formerly included in ''Sylvia''. They are found in Eurasia and Africa, with the greatest diversity in the Mediterrane ...
before being placed in the newly recognised
Australasian wren The Australasian wrens are a family, Maluridae, of small, insectivorous passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea. While commonly known as wrens, they are unrelated to the true wrens. The family comprises 32 species (including sixteen ...
family, Maluridae in 1975. More recently,
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 has shown that the family Maluridae is related to both the Meliphagidae (
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), and the Pardalotidae (pardalotes, scrubwrens, thornbills, gerygones and allies) within the large superfamily
Meliphagoidea __NOTOC__ 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. Systemat ...
. It is one of eleven species in the 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 ...
'' and is closely related to both the Australian
white-winged fairywren The white-winged fairywren (''Malurus leucopterus'') is a species of passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It lives in the drier parts of Central Australia; from central Queensland and South Australia across to Western Aust ...
, and the
white-shouldered fairywren The white-shouldered fairywren (''Malurus alboscapulatus'') is a species of bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is found in New Guinea. Taxonomy and systematics The white-shouldered fairywren was first described by the German ...
of New Guinea. Termed the ''bicoloured wrens'' by ornithologist
Richard Schodde Richard Schodde, Order of Australia, OAM (born 23 September 1936) is an Australian botany, botanist and ornithology, ornithologist. Schodde studied at the University of Adelaide, where he received a Bachelor of Science, BSc (Hons) in 1960 and a ...
, these three species are notable for their lack of head patterns and ear tufts, and solid-coloured black or blue plumage with contrasting shoulder or wing colour; they replace each other geographically across northern Australia and New Guinea.Schodde R ''(The fairy-wrens: a monograph of the Maluridae)'', p. 31


Subspecies

George Mack, ornithologist of the
National Museum of Victoria National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...
, was the first to classify the three forms ''melanocephalus'', ''cruentatus'' and ''pyrrhonotus'' as one species, although Richard Schodde reclassified ''pyrrhonotus'' as a hybrid from a broad hybrid zone in North Queensland; this area is bounded by the
Burdekin The Shire of Burdekin is a local government area located in North Queensland, Australia in the Dry Tropics region. The district is located between Townsville and Bowen in the delta of the Burdekin River. The shire covers an area of . It has e ...
, Endeavour and
Norman River The Norman River is a river in the Gulf Country, Queensland, Australia. The river originates in the Gregory Range, southeast of Croydon and flows northwest to the Gulf of Carpentaria. It is joined by three major tributaries, the Carron, C ...
s. Breeding males of intermediate plumage, larger and scarlet-backed, or smaller and orange-backed, as well as forms that resemble one of the two parent subspecies, are all encountered within the hybrid zone.Schodde ''(The fairy-wrens: a monograph of the Maluridae)'', p. 107 A molecular study published in 2008 focusing on the Cape York population found it was genetically closer to eastern forest populations than to those from the
Top End The Top End of Australia's Northern Territory is a geographical region encompassing the northernmost section of the Northern Territory, which aside from the Cape York Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Australian continent. It covers a ...
. The Cape York birds became segregated around 0.27 million years ago, but
gene flow In population genetics, gene flow (also known as migration and allele flow) is the transfer of genetic variation, genetic material from one population to another. If the rate of gene flow is high enough, then two populations will have equivalent ...
still continues with eastern birds. Two subspecies are currently recognised: * ''M. m. cruentatus'' - Gould, 1840: Originally described as a separate species, the specific epithet ''cruentatus'' (bloodstained) is derived from the
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
verb ''cruentare'' 'to stain with blood'. It is found across northern Australia from the Kimberleys to northern Queensland and is smaller than the nominate subspecies with males averaging and females in weight.Rowley & Russell ''(Families of the World: Fairy-wrens and Grasswrens)'', p. 182 Males in breeding plumage on Melville Island have a deeper crimson colour to their back. *''M. m. melanocephalus'' - (Latham, 1801): The
nominate Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In th ...
subspecies, it has an orange back and longer tail and is found from northern coastal New South Wales through to northern Queensland. This form has previously been called the orange-backed fairywren.


Evolutionary history

Ornithologist Richard Schodde has proposed that the ancestors of the two subspecies were separated during the last glacial period in the
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
around 12,000 years ago. Aridity had pushed the grasslands preferred by the wren to the north, and with subsequent wetter warmer conditions it once again spread southwards and met the eastern form in northern Queensland and intermediate forms arose. 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 In biogeography, a land bridge is an isthmus or wider land connection between otherwise separate areas, over which animals and plants are able to cross and colonize new lands. A land bridge can be created by marine regression, in which sea le ...
. Populations then became separated as sea levels rose, and New Guinea birds evolved into the white-shouldered fairywren, while Australian forms evolved into the red-backed fairywren and the arid-adapted white-winged fairywren.Rowley & Russell (''Families of the World: Fairy-wrens and Grasswrens''), p. 31 A 2017 genetic study using both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA found the ancestors of the red-backed and white-shouldered fairywrens diverged from each other around 3 million years ago, and their common ancestor diverged around 5 million years ago from a lineage that gave rise to the white-winged fairywren.


Description

The smallest member of the genus ''Malurus'', the red-backed fairywren measures and weighs , averaging around . The tail is approximately long and is black in the breeding male, and brown in eclipse males, females, and juvenile birds. Averaging , the
bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...
is relatively long, narrow, pointed, and wider at the base.Rowley & Russell ''(Families of the World: Fairy-wrens and Grasswrens)'', p. 33 Wider than it is deep, the bill is similar in shape to those of other birds that feed by probing or picking insects off of their environs. Like other fairywrens, the red-backed fairywren is notable for its marked
sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...
; the male adopts full breeding plumage by the fourth year, later than all other fairywrens apart from the closely related white-winged fairywren.Rowley & Russell ''(Families of the World: Fairy-wrens and Grasswrens)'', p. 181 The male in breeding plumage has a black head and body with striking red back and brown wings. At other times it has a brown upper body and white underparts. Some males, mainly younger, remain in
eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...
plumage while breeding. The female looks remarkably similar with a buff brown body and a yellowish spot under the eye. The female of this species differs from those of other fairywren species in that it lacks a blue tint in the tail. Geographically, it follows
Gloger's rule Gloger's rule is an ecogeographical rule which states that within a species of endotherms, more heavily pigmented forms tend to be found in more humid environments, e.g. near the equator. It was named after the zoologist Constantin Wilhelm Lamb ...
; female birds have whiter bellies and paler brown upperparts inland in sunnier climates. Juveniles of both sexes look very similar to females.


Vocalizations

The typical song used by the red-backed fairywren to advertise its territory is similar to that of other fairywrens, namely a reel made up of an introductory note followed by repeated short segments of song, starting weak and soft and ending high and shrill with several syllables. The call is mostly made by the male during mating season.Rowley & Russell ''(Families of the World: Fairy-wrens and Grasswrens)'', p. 64 Birds will communicate with one another while foraging with a soft , barely audible further than away. The alarm call is a high-pitched ''zit''.


Distribution and habitat

The red-backed fairywren is
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
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 can be seen along rivers and the coast from Cape Keraudren in northern Western Australia through the Kimberleys,
Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territorial capital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compa ...
and the Gulf Country and into Cape York, with the Selwyn Range and upper reaches of the
Flinders River The Flinders River is the longest river in Queensland, Australia, at approximately . It was named in honour of the explorer Matthew Flinders. The catchment is sparsely populated and mostly undeveloped. The Flinders rises on the western slopes o ...
as a southern limit. It is also found on the nearby offshore islands
Groote Eylandt Groote Eylandt ( Anindilyakwa: ''Ayangkidarrba''; meaning "island" ) is the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria and the fourth largest island in Australia. It was named by the explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 and is Dutch for "large island" ...
, Sir Edmund Pellew, Fraser, Melville and Bathurst Islands. Its range extends all the way down the east coast east of the
Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughl ...
to the
Hunter River Hunter River may refer to: *Hunter River (New South Wales), Australia *Hunter River (Western Australia) *Hunter River, New Zealand *Hunter River (Prince Edward Island), Canada **Hunter River, Prince Edward Island, community on Hunter River, Canada ...
in New South Wales,Schodde ''(The fairy-wrens: a monograph of the Maluridae)'', p. 100 preferring wet, grassy tropical or sub-tropical areas, with tall grasses such as blady grass (''
Imperata cylindrica ''Imperata cylindrica'' (commonly known as cogongrass or kunai grass ) is a species of Perennial plant, perennial rhizomatous grass native to tropical and subtropical Asia, Micronesia, Melanesia, Australia, Africa, and Southern Europe. It has al ...
''), species of ''
Sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...
'', and '' Eulalia''. It is not a true migrant, although it may be locally nomadic due to changes in vegetation, and may leave its territory after the breeding season. The species will retreat to fire-resistant cover at times of fire.Schodde ''(The fairy-wrens: a monograph of the Maluridae)'', p. 105 The red-backed fairywren avoids arid habitats, and is replaced to the south of its range by the white-winged fairywren.Rowley & Russell (''Bird Families of the World: Fairy-wrens and Grasswrens''), p. 179


Behaviour and ecology

The red-backed fairywren is diurnal, and becomes active at dawn, and again in bursts throughout the day. When not foraging, birds often shelter together. They roost side-by-side in dense cover and engage in mutual preening.Rowley & Russell ''(Families of the World: Fairy-wrens and Grasswrens)'', p. 65 The usual form of locomotion is hopping, with both feet leaving the ground and landing simultaneously. However, a bird may run when performing the ''rodent-run'' display.Rowley & Russell ''(Families of the World: Fairy-wrens and Grasswrens)'', p. 42 Its balance is assisted by a relatively long tail, which is usually held upright and is rarely still. The short, rounded wings provide good initial lift and are useful for short flights, though not for extended jaunts.Rowley & Russell ''(Families of the World: Fairy-wrens and Grasswrens)'', p. 41 Birds generally fly in a series of undulations for a maximum of . In dry tall grasslands in monsoonal areas, the change in vegetation may be so great due to either fires or wet season growth that birds may be more nomadic and change territories more often than other fairywrens. They form more stable territories elsewhere, such as in coastal areas.
Cooperative breeding Cooperative breeding is a social system characterized by alloparental care: offspring receive care not only from their parents, but also from additional group members, often called helpers. Cooperative breeding encompasses a wide variety of group s ...
is less common with this species than with other fairywrens; helper birds have been sporadically reported, but the red-backed fairywren has been little studied.Rowley & Russell ''(Families of the World:Fairywrens and Grasswrens)'', p. 183 Both the male and female adult red-backed fairywren may utilise the ''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.Rowley & Russell ''(Families of the World:Fairywrens and Grasswrens)'', p. 184


Courtship and breeding

During the mating season, the male moults its brown feathers and displays a fiery red plumage. It may fluff out its red back and shoulder feathers so that they cover part of the wings in a ''puffball-display''. It will fly about and confront another male to repel it, or to assert dominance over a female.Schodde ''(The fairy-wrens: a monograph of the Maluridae)'', p. 106 It also picks red petals and sometimes red seeds and presents them to other birds. Ninety percent of the time, this is presented to a female in what appears to be a courtship ritual. In the remaining ten percent of instances, it presents to another male as an apparent act of aggression. Over half the red-backed fairywrens in an area can be found in pairs during the mating season. This is apparently a defence against the resource-limited nature of the environment. It is more difficult to maintain a larger interdependent group during dry spells, so the birds try to stay in pairs or smaller groups, which include adults that help parents look after young. Paternity tests have shown that an older male with bright plumage has much more success in the mating season and can mate with more than one female. Accordingly, it has higher sperm storage and makes more mating overtures towards females. A male with browner and less bright plumage or a younger male with bright plumage has a much lower success rate than a bright, older male for mating. Further, an unpaired male serves as a helper to a mated pair in feeding and care of young. After the male pairs, his bill darkens within three weeks. This is much easier to control than plumage, as moulting takes time and is controlled by seasonality. The bill is vascular and much easier to change in response to the pairings. The mating season lasts from August to February, and coincides with the arrival of the rainy season in northern Australia. The female does the bulk of the nest building, although the male does assist; this is not typical for other birds of the genus ''Malurus''. Concealed in grass tussocks or low shrubs, the spherical nest is constructed of dried grasses and usually lined with smaller, finer grasses and hair. Nests examined in southeast Queensland tended to be larger and untidier than those in northern Australia; the former measured high by wide and bore a partly covered entrance of in diameter, whereas the latter average around in height by wide with a entrance. Construction takes around one week, and there may be an interval of up to another seven days before eggs are laid. The eggs produced are white with reddish-brown spots in clutches of three to four, and measure × ; those of ''M. m.'' ''melanocephalus'' are a little larger than those of ''M. m.'' ''cruentatus''. The eggs are incubated for two weeks by the female alone. The nestlings are hidden under cover for one week after hatching. The juveniles depend on parents and helpers for approximately one month. They learn to fly between 11–12 days after hatching. Broods hatched earlier in the season will help to raise the broods hatched later on. They will stay as a clutch group for the season after hatching.


Feeding

Like other fairywrens, the red-backed fairywren is predominantly
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 ...
; they eat a wide variety of insects, including
beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...
s such as
weevil Weevils are beetles belonging to the superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small – less than in length – and herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They belong to several fa ...
s, leaf-, jewel-, flea- and ground-beetles, bugs,
grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...
s,
moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...
s,
wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...
s and
cicada The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two ...
s. Insect larvae and eggs are eaten as well as spiders. Seeds and other plant material make up only a very small proportion of its diet.Schodde ''(The fairy-wrens: a monograph of the Maluridae)'', p. 105–06 It can be found hunting for insects in leaf litter, shrubbery and on the edges of bodies of water, mostly in the morning and late afternoon. Adults of both sexes as well as helper birds feed the young.


Predators and threats

Adults and their young may be preyed upon by mammals such as the
feral cat A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat (''Felis catus'') that lives outdoors and avoids human contact; it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens ...
and
red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...
, reptiles such as
goanna A goanna is any one of several species of lizard of the genus ''Monitor lizard, Varanus'' found in Australia and Southeast Asia. Around 70 species of ''Varanus'' are known, 25 of which are found in Australia. This varied group of carnivorous r ...
s, rodents, and native predatory birds, such as the
Australian magpie The Australian magpie (''Gymnorhina tibicen'') is a black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea, and introduced to New Zealand, and the Fijian island of Taveuni. Although once considered to be three separate ...
,
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 ...
species,
blue-winged kookaburra The blue-winged kookaburra (''Dacelo leachii'') is a large species of kingfisher native to northern Australia and southern New Guinea. Measuring around , it is slightly smaller than the more familiar laughing kookaburra. It has cream-coloured u ...
,
crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...
s and
raven A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...
s, and shrike-thrushes.Rowley & Russell (''Families of the World: Fairy-wrens and Grasswrens''), p. 121


References


Cited texts

* *


External links


Red-backed fairywren videos
on the Internet Bird Collection {{Taxonbar, from=Q420379
red-backed fairywren The red-backed fairywren (''Malurus melanocephalus'') is a species of passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is Endemism, endemic to Australia and can be found near rivers and coastal areas along the northern and eastern ...
Birds of the Northern Territory Birds of Queensland Birds of Western Australia Endemic birds of Australia
red-backed fairywren The red-backed fairywren (''Malurus melanocephalus'') is a species of passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is Endemism, endemic to Australia and can be found near rivers and coastal areas along the northern and eastern ...
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot