The white-winged fairywren (''Malurus leucopterus'') is a
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), ...
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 family, Maluridae. It lives in the drier parts of
Central Australia
Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and ...
; from central
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
and
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
across to
Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
. Like other fairywrens, this species displays 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 ...
and one or more males of a social group grow brightly coloured
plumage
Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...
during the breeding season. The female is sandy-brown with light-blue tail feathers; it is smaller than the male, which, in breeding plumage, has a bright-blue body, black bill, and white wings. Younger sexually mature males are almost indistinguishable from females and are often the breeding males. In spring and summer, a troop of white-winged fairywrens has a brightly coloured older male accompanied by small, inconspicuous brown birds, many of which are also male. Three
subspecies
In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
are recognised. Apart from the mainland subspecies, one is found on
Dirk Hartog Island
Dirk Hartog Island is an island off the Gascoyne (Western Australia), Gascoyne coast of Western Australia, within the Shark Bay, Western Australia, Shark Bay World Heritage Area. It is about long and between wide and is Western Australia's ...
, and another on
Barrow Island off the coast of Western Australia. Males from these islands have black rather than blue breeding plumage.
The white-winged fairywren mainly
eats insects, supplementing this with small fruits and leaf buds. It occurs in
heath
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...
land and arid
scrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...
, where low shrubs provide cover. Like other fairywrens, it is a
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 ...
species, and small groups of birds maintain and defend
territories
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...
year-round. 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 several helper birds who assist in raising the young. These helpers are
progeny that have attained sexual maturity but remain with the family group for one or more years after
fledging. Although not yet confirmed genetically, the white-winged fairywren may be
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 assist in raising the young from other pairings. 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 petals from flowers and displays them to female birds.
Taxonomy and systematics

A specimen of the white-winged fairywren was first collected by French
naturalist
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
s
Jean René Constant Quoy
Jean René Constant Quoy (10 November 1790 in Maillé, Vendée, Maillé – 4 July 1869 in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, Rochefort) was a French naval surgeon, zoologist and anatomist.
In 1806, he began his medical studies at the school of naval ...
and
Joseph Paul Gaimard
Joseph Paul Gaimard (31 January 1793 – 10 December 1858) was a French naval surgeon and naturalist.
Biography
Gaimard was born at Saint-Zacharie on January 31, 1793. He studied medicine at the naval medical school in Toulon, subsequen ...
in September 1818, on
Louis de Freycinet
Louis Claude de Saulces de Freycinet (7 August 1779 – 18 August 1841) was a French Navy officer. He circumnavigated the Earth, and in 1811 published the first map to show a full outline of the coastline of Australia.
Biography
He was born at M ...
's voyage around the
Southern Hemisphere. The specimen was subsequently lost in a shipwreck, but a painting entitled ''Mérion leucoptère'' by
Jacques Arago
Jacques Étienne Victor Arago (6 March 1790 – 27 November 1855) was a French writer, artist and explorer, author of a ''Voyage Round the World''.
Biography
Jacques was born in Estagel, Pyrénées-Orientales. He was the brother of François Ar ...
survived and led to the bird's description in 1824 by French ornithologist
Charles Dumont de Sainte-Croix
Charles Henri Frédéric Dumont de Sainte-Croix (27 April 1758 – 8 January 1830) was a French zoologist.
A lawyer by trade, he was also an enthusiastic amateur ornithologist.Stresemann, p. 117 Between 1817 and 1818, he described a number of J ...
.
[Schodde (1982), p. 108] The name for the species was 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 ...
''leuko-'' "white" and ''pteron'' "wing".
Ironically, the original specimen was of the black-plumaged subspecies from
Dirk Hartog Island
Dirk Hartog Island is an island off the Gascoyne (Western Australia), Gascoyne coast of Western Australia, within the Shark Bay, Western Australia, Shark Bay World Heritage Area. It is about long and between wide and is Western Australia's ...
, which was not recorded again for 80 years. Meanwhile, the widespread blue-plumaged subspecies was discovered and described as two separate species by
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 ...
in 1865.
[ He called one specimen collected from inland ]New South Wales
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
the white-winged superb warbler (''M. cyanotus''), while another, which appeared to have a white back and wings, was described as the white-backed superb warbler (''M. leuconotus''). It was not until the early 20th century that both of these blue-plumaged mainland forms were found to be of a single species.[Rowley & Russell (1997), p. 177] 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, ...
, considered the specific name ''leuconotus'' to take precedence in his 1934 revision of the genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
, and more recent studies have followed suit.[Rowley & Russell (1997), p. 178] The back region between the shoulders is in fact bare, with feathers that arise from the shoulder (scapular) region and sweep inwards in different patterns. This variation confused the early naturalists who described the white-backed and blue-backed species.[
The white-winged fairywren was often referred to as the blue-and-white wren, and early observers, such as Norman Favaloro of Victoria, refer to them by this name.] However, like other fairywrens, the white-winged 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). Other alternative names used include the white-backed fairywren, white-backed wren and white-winged wren. 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 they were placed in the newly recognised Australasian wren 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 the family Maluridae to be related to the family 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) in 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 ...
.
The white-winged fairywren is one of eleven species in the genus '' Malurus''. It is most closely related to the Australian red-backed fairywren, with which it makes up a phylogenetic clade with the white-shouldered fairywren of 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 ...
as the next closest relative. 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 their uniform black or blue plumage with contrasting shoulder or wing colour; they replace each other geographically across northern Australia
The unofficial geographic term Northern Australia includes those parts of Queensland and Western Australia north of latitude 26th parallel south, 26° and all of the Northern Territory. Those local government areas of Western Australia and Q ...
and New Guinea.[Schodde (1982), p. 31]
Subspecies
There are three recognised subspecies
In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
. Both black-plumaged forms have been called the black-and-white fairywren and black-and-white wren.
* ''M. l. leucopterus'' - Dumont, 1824 Range of the nominate subspecies is restricted to Dirk Hartog Island
Dirk Hartog Island is an island off the Gascoyne (Western Australia), Gascoyne coast of Western Australia, within the Shark Bay, Western Australia, Shark Bay World Heritage Area. It is about long and between wide and is Western Australia's ...
, off the western coast of Australia, and nuptial males display black-and-white plumage. This subspecies is the smallest of the three and bears a proportionally longer tail.[Rowley & Russell (1997), pp. 177–178] It was collected again in 1916 by Tom Carter, 98 years after de Freycinet's expedition collected the type specimen.
* ''M. l. edouardi'' - Campbell, A.J, 1901: Originally described as a separate species, this subspecies, like the nominate subspecies, have black-and-white coloured males, but are found only on Barrow Island, also off the western coast of Australia. Birds of this subspecies are larger than those of the nominate subspecies but have a shorter tail. The female has a more cinnamon tinge to her plumage than the grey-brown of the other two subspecies.[
* Blue-and-white fairywren (''M. l. leuconotus)'' - Gould, 1865: Originally described as a separate species, it is endemic to mainland Australia and distinct in that it is the only subspecies to have nuptial males that show prominent blue-and-white plumage.] The scientific name of this subspecies is derived from the Ancient Greek ''leukos'' 'white' and ''notos'' 'back'. Birds in the southern parts of its range tend to be smaller than those in the north.
''M. l. leucopterus'' and ''M. l. edouardi'' are both generally smaller than their mainland relatives, and both subspecies tend to have smaller family groups that consist of only one male and one female, with an occasional helper bird. While the island subspecies and mainland species have been found to have similar social structure, breeding pairs on both islands have, on average, smaller clutches, longer incubation times, and fewer live fledglings. Additionally, while ''M. l. leuconotus'' is considered of least concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...
by the IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...
due to its widespread occurrence, both island subspecies are considered vulnerable by the Australian government due to their delicate nesting sites that are easily disturbed by human construction and habitation.
Evolutionary history
Both island subspecies are nearer in genetic distance
Genetic distance is a measure of the genetics, genetic divergence between species or between population#Genetics, populations within a species, whether the distance measures time from common ancestor or degree of differentiation. Populations with ...
to mainland populations of ''leuconotus'' than to each other; Dirk Hartog Island is from the mainland while Barrow Island is from the mainland. 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 ...
between the populations existed at the beginning of the present interglacial
An interglacial period (or alternatively interglacial, interglaciation) is a geological interval of warmer global average temperature lasting thousands of years that separates consecutive glacial periods within an ice age. The current Holocene i ...
period, some 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, at a time when sea levels were lower and both islands connected with the mainland.
There are three theories as to how the three races of white-winged fairywren could have evolved. The first suggests that black-and-white plumage is an ancestral condition and, following separation of the three populations, blue-and-white plumage evolved in the mainland species. The second hypothesis suggests that black-and-white plumage evolved convergently on the two separate islands. The third suggests that black-and-white plumage evolved once from the blue-and-white ancestral condition, and later the mainland species re-evolved blue plumage.
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 became separated as sea levels rose, and New Guinea birds evolved into the white-shouldered fairywren, and Australian forms into the red-backed fairywren and the arid-adapted white-winged fairywren.[Rowley & Russell (1997), p. 31]
Description
Measuring in length, white-winged fairywrens are one of the two smallest species of ''Malurus''. Males typically weigh between while females weigh between .[ Averaging in males and in females,][ the bill is relatively long, narrow and pointed and wider at the base.][Rowley & Russell (1997), p. 38] Wider than it is deep, the bill is similar in shape to those of other birds that feed by probing for or picking insects off their environs. It is finer and more pointed in this species than in other fairywrens.[
Fully mature adults are ]sexually dimorphic
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 ...
, with the male being larger and differing in colour from the female. The adult female is sandy-brown with a very light blue tail, and a pinkish buff bill. The male in breeding plumage has a black bill, white wings and shoulders, and a wholly cobalt blue
Cobalt blue is a blue pigment made by sintering cobalt(II) oxide with aluminium(III) oxide (alumina) at 1200 °C. Chemically, cobalt blue pigment is cobalt(II) oxide-aluminium oxide, or cobalt(II) aluminate, CoAl2O4. Cobalt blue is lighte ...
or black body (depending on subspecies). These contrasting white feathers are especially highlighted in flight and ground displays in breeding season. 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 resembles the female, though it may be distinguished by its darker bill.[Rowley & Russell (1997), p. 176] Both sexes have long, slender, distinct tails held at an upward angle from their bodies.[ Measuring around , the tail feathers have a white fringe, which disappears with wear.][Rowley & Russell (1997), p. 37]
Nestlings, fledglings, and juveniles have brown plumage and pink-brown bills with shorter tails than adults. Young males develop blue tail feathers and darker bills by late summer or autumn (following a spring or summer breeding season), while young females develop light blue tails. By the subsequent spring, all males are fertile and have developed cloacal
A cloaca ( ), : cloacae ( or ), or vent, is the rear orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive (rectum), reproductive, and urinary tracts (if present) of many vertebrate animals. All amphibians, reptiles, birds, cartilaginou ...
protuberances, which store sperm. In contrast, during the breeding season, fertile females develop oedema
Edema (American English), also spelled oedema (British English), and also known as fluid retention, swelling, dropsy and hydropsy, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may inclu ...
tous brood patches, which are bare areas on their bellies.
Males entering their second or third year may develop spotty blue and white plumage during the breeding season. By their fourth year, males have assumed their nuptial plumage, where the scapulars, secondary wing coverts, and secondary flight feather
Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tai ...
s are white while the rest of their bodies are a vibrant cobalt blue
Cobalt blue is a blue pigment made by sintering cobalt(II) oxide with aluminium(III) oxide (alumina) at 1200 °C. Chemically, cobalt blue pigment is cobalt(II) oxide-aluminium oxide, or cobalt(II) aluminate, CoAl2O4. Cobalt blue is lighte ...
. All sexually mature males moult
In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is a process by which an animal casts off parts of its body to serve some beneficial purpose, either at ...
twice a year, once before the breeding season in winter or spring, and again afterwards in autumn; rarely, a male may moult directly from nuptial to nuptial plumage.[ The breeding males' blue plumage, particularly the ear-coverts, is highly ]iridescent
Iridescence (also known as goniochromism) is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear gradually to change colour as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Iridescence is caused by wave interference of light in microstruc ...
due to the flattened and twisted surface of the barbules.[Rowley & Russell (1997), p. 44] The blue plumage also reflects ultraviolet
Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of ...
light strongly, and so may be even more prominent to other fairywrens, whose colour vision extends into this part of the spectrum
A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...
.
Vocalisations
In 1980, Tideman characterised five different patterns of calls among ''Malurus leucopterus leuconotus''; these were recognised by Pruett and Jones among the island subspecies ''M. l. edouardi''. The main call is a reel
A reel is a tool used to store elongated and flexible objects (e.g. yarns/ cords, ribbons, cables, hoses, etc.) by wrapping the material around a cylindrical core known as a '' spool''. Many reels also have flanges (known as the ''rims'') arou ...
made by both sexes in order to establish territory and unify the group. It is a long song of "rising and falling notes" that is first signaled by 3–5 ''chip'' notes. Although seemingly weak in sound, the reel carries a long way above the stunted shrubland. A harsh ''trit'' call is often used to establish contact (especially between mothers and their young) and to raise alarm; it is characterised by a series of "loud and abrupt" calls that vary in frequency and intensity. Adults will use a high-pitched peep that may be made intermittently with reels as a contact call to birds that are more distant. Nestlings, fledglings, and females around the nest will use high pips—quiet, high-pitched, and short calls. When used by a mature female, they are mixed with harsh calls. Nestlings may also make "gurgling" noises when they are being fed. The subordinate helpers and feeders may also make this sound.
Distribution and habitat
The white-winged fairywren is well adapted to dry environments, and ''M.l. leuconotus'' is found throughout arid
Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability.Perez-Aguilar, L. Y., Plata ...
and semi-arid environments between latitudes 19 and 32oS in mainland Australia. It occupies coastal Western Australia from around Port Hedland
A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inla ...
south to Perth
Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
, and stretches eastwards over to Mount Isa
Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive mines in world history, based on co ...
in Queensland, and along the western parts 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 ...
through central Queensland and central western New South Wales, into the northwestern corner of Victoria and the Eyre Peninsula
The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north.
Earlier called Eyre's Peninsula, it was named after e ...
and across the Nullarbor.[Schodde (1982), p. 110] It commonly cohabits with other species of fairywren, including the purple-backed fairy-wren (''M. lamberti assimilis''). White-winged fairywrens often inhabit heath
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...
lands or treeless shrublands dominated by saltbush (''Atriplex
''Atriplex'' () is a plant genus of about 250 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache (; also spelled orach). It belongs to the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae ''s.l.''.
The genus is quite variable and ...
'') and small shrubs of the genus '' Maireana'', or grasses such as tussock grass ('' Triodia'') and cane-grass ('' Zygochloa''), as well as floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
areas vegetated with lignum ('' Muehlenbeckia florulenta'').[ ''M. l. leucopterus'' inhabits similar habitats on Dirk Hartog Island and ''M. l. edouardi'' does the same on Barrow Island.] The white-winged fairywren is replaced to the north of its range on mainland Australia by the red-backed fairywren.[Rowley & Russell (1997), p. 179]
Behaviour and ecology
The usual form of locomotion is hopping, with both feet leaving the ground and landing simultaneously. However, birds may run when performing the ''rodent-run'' display.[Rowley & Russell (1997), p. 42] Its balance is assisted by a proportionally large tail, which is usually held upright and rarely still. The short, rounded wings provide good initial lift and are useful for short flights, though not for extended jaunts.[Rowley & Russell (1997), p. 41]
White-winged fairywrens live in complex social groups. Clans consist of 2–4 birds, typically one brown or partially blue male and a breeding female. Nest helpers are birds raised in previous years which remain with the family group after fledging and assist in raising young; they may be male that have retained their brown plumage, or female.[ Birds in a group roost side-by-side in dense cover and engage in mutual preening.][Rowley & Russell (1997), pp. 61–62] Several subgroups live within one territory and make up a clan, which is presided over by one blue (or black) male who assumes breeding plumage. While the blue male is dominant to the rest of the brown and partially blue males within his clan, he nests with only one female and contributes to the raising of only her young. It is unclear whether or not he fathers young in any of the other nests within his territory.[
Each clan has a specified area of land that all members contribute to foraging from and defending. Frequently, territory sizes, normally , are correlated with the abundance of rain and resources in a region; smaller territories occur where insects and resources are plentiful.] Additionally, the feeding territories are larger during the winter months when these birds spend much of their time foraging with the entire clan. White-winged fairywrens occupy much larger territories than other fairywren species.[Rowley & Russell (1997), p. 59]
Observed in this species,[Rowley & Russell (1997), p. 180] the ''wing-fluttering'' display is seen in several situations: females responding, and presumably acquiescing, to male courtship displays, juveniles begging for food, by helpers to older birds, and immature males to senior ones. The fairywren lowers its head and tail, outstretches and quivers its wings and holds its beak open silently.[Rowley & Russell (1997), p. 77]
Both the male and female adult white-winged fairywren may utilise a ''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.[
]
Courtship and breeding
Fairywrens exhibit one of the highest incidences of extra-pair mating, and many broods are brought up a by male who is not the natural father. However, courtship methods among white-winged fairywrens remain unclear. Blue-plumaged males have been seen outside of their territory and in some cases, carrying pink or purple petals, which among other species advertise the male to neighboring females. In contrast, black-plumaged males on Barrow and Dirk Hartog islands often carry blue petals. While petal-carrying outside of clan territories strongly suggests mating with other females is occurring, further genetic analysis is necessary.[
During another courtship display the male bows deeply forward facing the female, reaching the ground with his bill and spreading and flattening his plumage in a near-horizontal plane for up to 20 seconds. In this pose, the white plumage forms a striking white band across his darker plumage.][Schodde (1982), p. 112]
Breeding females begin to build their nests in the spring and construct domed structures composed of spider web
A spider web, spiderweb, spider's web, or cobweb (from the archaic word ''Wikt:coppe, coppe'', meaning 'spider') is a structure created by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets, generally meant to catch its prey ...
s, fine grasses
Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in ...
, thistle-down, and vegetable-down, typically tall and thick. Each nest has a small entrance on one side and they are normally placed in thick shrubs close to the ground. A clutch
A clutch is a mechanical device that allows an output shaft to be disconnected from a rotating input shaft. The clutch's input shaft is typically attached to a motor, while the clutch's output shaft is connected to the mechanism that does th ...
of 3–4 eggs is generally laid anywhere from September to January, with incubation lasting around 14 days.[ The white-winged fairywren generally breeds in the spring in the southwest of Western Australia, but is more opportunistic in arid regions of central and northern Australia, with breeding recorded almost any month after a period of rainfall.][Rowley & Russell (1997), p. 105] Incubation is by the breeding female alone, while the breeding male (a brown or blue male) and nest helpers aid in feeding the nestlings and removing their fecal sac
A fecal sac (also spelled faecal sac) is a mucous membrane, generally white or clear with a dark end, that surrounds the feces of some species of nestling birds. It allows parent birds to more easily remove Feces, fecal material from the bird n ...
s. The newly hatched nestlings are altricial
Precocial species in birds and mammals are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. They are normally nidifugous, meaning that they leave the nest shortly after birth or hatching. Altricial ...
, gaping immediately for food, and developing downy feather tracts and opening their eyes by the third or fourth day.[Schodde (1982), p. 114] Nestlings remain in the nest for 10–11 days, and fledglings continue to be fed for 3–4 weeks following their departure from the nest. Fledglings then either stay on to help raise the next brood or move to a nearby territory.[Rowley & Russell (1997), p. 181] It is not unusual for a pair bond to hatch and raise two broods in one breeding season, and helpers tend to lessen the stress on the breeding female rather than increase the overall number of feedings. Like other fairywrens, the white-winged fairywren is particularly prone to parasitic nesting by the Horsfield's bronze cuckoo (''Chalcites basalis''). Parasitism by the shining bronze cuckoo (''C. lucidus'') and black-eared cuckoo (''C. osculans'') is rarely recorded.[Rowley & Russell (1997), p. 119]
Feeding
The white-winged fairywren is primarily 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 ...
; its diet includes small 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, bugs, 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, praying mantis
Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate ...
es, caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths).
As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...
s, and smaller insects, as well as spider
Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...
s. The larger insects are typically fed to nestlings by the breeding female and her helpers, including the breeding male. Adults and juveniles forage by hopping along the shrubland floor, and may supplement their diets with seeds and fruits of saltbush ('' Rhagodia''), goosefoot (''Chenopodium
''Chenopodium'' is a genus of numerous species of perennial or annual herbaceous flowering plants known as the goosefoot, which occur almost anywhere in the world. It is placed in the family Amaranthaceae in the APG II system; older classifica ...
'') and new shoots of samphire
Samphire is a name given to a number of succulent salt-tolerant plants (halophytes) that tend to be associated with water bodies.
* Rock samphire ('' Crithmum maritimum'') is a coastal species with white flowers that grows in Ireland, the Uni ...
.[Schodde (1982), p. 111] During spring and summer, birds are active in bursts through the day and accompany their foraging with song. Insects are numerous and easy to catch, which allows the birds to rest between forays. The group often shelters and rests together during the heat of the day. Food is harder to find during winter and they are required to spend the day foraging continuously.
Threats
Adults and their young may be preyed upon by mammalian predators, such as the 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 ...
(''Vulpes vulpes'') or 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 ...
(''Felis catus''), 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 ...
(''Gymnorhina tibicen''), 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 (''Cracticus'' spp.), laughing kookaburra
The laughing kookaburra (''Dacelo novaeguineae'') is a bird in the kingfisher subfamily Halcyoninae. It is a large robust kingfisher with a whitish head and a brown eye-stripe. The upperparts are mostly dark brown but there is a mottled light ...
(''Dacelo novaeguineae''), currawongs (''Strepera'' spp.), 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 (''Corvus'' spp.), shrike-thrushes (''Colluricincla'' spp.) and 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.[Rowley & Russell (1997), p. 121] Another threat to the birds is from humans; many nests are trampled on (even by the occasional bird watcher
Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescope, ...
) during breeding season because the nests are hidden close to the ground and therefore difficult for passers-by to spot.
References
Cited texts
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*
External links
White-winged Fairywren videos
on the Internet Bird Collection
{{Featured article
white-winged fairywren
Endemic birds of Australia
white-winged fairywren
white-winged fairywren
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot