Variegated fairywren

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Variegated fairywren
Male in breeding plumage

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Maluridae
Genus: Malurus
Species:
M. lamberti
Binomial name
Malurus lamberti

The variegated fairywren (Malurus lamberti) is a

coverts, while non-breeding males, females and juveniles have predominantly grey-brown plumage
, although females of two subspecies have mainly blue-grey plumage.

Like other fairywrens, the variegated fairywren is a cooperative breeding species, with small groups of birds maintaining and defending small

insectivorous and forage and live in the shelter of scrubby vegetation east of the Great Dividing Range. Populations across central, northern and western Australia were considered subspecies of this species until 2018, when they were reclassified as the purple-backed fairywren
.

Taxonomy and systematics

The variegated fairywren was originally described by Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield in 1827,[2] and was at first considered a colour variant of the superb fairywren.[3] It is one of eleven species of the genus Malurus, commonly known as fairywrens, found in Australia and lowland New Guinea.[4] Within the genus it belongs to a group of four very similar species known collectively as chestnut-shouldered fairywrens. There are well-defined borders between the variegated fairywren and the other chestnut-shouldered wrens in the group, which are the lovely fairywren, red-winged fairywren, and the blue-breasted fairywren.[5] Gregory Mathews erected the genus Leggeornis for the group, with the variegated fairywren as the type species.[6] However, the genus has been reclassified as a subgenus within Malurus.[7]

Like other

Maluridae in 1975.[8] More recently, DNA analysis has shown the family to be related to the honeyeaters (Meliphagidae) and the pardalotes (Pardalotidae) in a large superfamily Meliphagoidea.[9][10]

"Variegated fairywren" has been designated the official name by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC).[11] The scientific name commemorates the British collector Aylmer Bourke Lambert. The variegated fairywren was formerly known as the variegated wren, until 1978 when the RAOU pushed for the current name to be used. It is also known as Lambert's wren.[12]

Evolutionary history

In his 1982 monograph, ornithologist

last glacial period 12,000–13,000 years ago, the northern variegated forms have again spread southwards, resulting in the purple-backed fairywren. This has resulted in the variegated fairywren's range to overlap with all three other species. Schodde also proposed that the blue-grey coloured females of the lavender-flanked subspecies were ancestral, while the browner coloration of females of southern forms was an adaptation to dry climates. Further molecular studies may result in this hypothesis being modified.[13]

A 2017 molecular analysis by Alison J. McLean and colleagues of the former subspecies of the variegated fairywren largely supported Schodde's hypothesis. The

International Ornithological Committee with the subspecies to the north and west reallocated to the purple-backed fairywren.[15]

Description

Female (eclipse male has pale eye ring, dark face stripe)

The variegated fairywren is 14–15 cm (5.5–6 in) long

barbules.[21] The blue plumage also reflects ultraviolet light strongly, and so may be even more prominent to other fairywrens, whose colour vision extends into that part of the spectrum.[22]

Vocalisations

Vocal communication among variegated fairywrens is used primarily for communication between birds in a social group and for advertising and defending a territory.[23] The basic song type is a high-pitched reel of a large number of short elements (10–20 per second); this lasts 1–4 seconds. The reel of the variegated fairywren is the softest of all malurids.[24] Birds maintain contact with each other by tsst or seeee calls, while a short, sharp tsit serves as an alarm call.[17]

Distribution and habitat

The variegated fairywren is found in scrubland with plenty of vegetation providing dense cover.[25] They have been reported to shelter in mammal burrows to avoid extreme heat.[26] In urban situations such as suburban Sydney, these fairywrens have been said to prefer areas with more cover than the related superb fairywren,[27] though a 2007 survey in Sydney's northern suburbs has proposed that variegated fairywrens may prefer areas of higher plant diversity rather than denser cover as such.[28] Forestry plantations of pine and eucalypts are generally unsuitable as they lack undergrowth.[29]

Behaviour and ecology

Like all fairywrens, the variegated fairywren is an active and restless feeder, particularly on open ground near shelter, but also through the lower foliage. Movement is a series of jaunty hops and bounces,[30] its balance assisted by a relatively 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.[31] 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.[32]

Like other fairywrens, male variegated fairywrens have been observed carrying brightly coloured petals to display to females as part of a courtship ritual. In this species, the petals that have been recorded have been yellow.[33] Petals are displayed and presented to a female in the male fairywren's own or another territory.[34]

The variegated fairywren is a cooperative breeding species, with pairs or small groups of birds maintaining and defending small territories year-round. Though less studied than the superb- and

promiscuous, with each partner mating with other individuals.[25] Females and males feed young equally, while helper birds assist in defending the territory and feeding and rearing the young.[35] Birds in a group roost side-by-side in dense cover as well as engage in mutual preening.[25] Occasionally larger groups of around 10 birds have been recorded, though it is unclear whether this was incidental or a defined flock.[25]

Breeding

Male and females, Dayboro, SE Queensland

Breeding occurs from spring through to late summer; the

brood parasite Horsfield's bronze cuckoo and, less commonly, the brush cuckoo and fan-tailed cuckoo.[37]

Food and feeding

The variegated fairywren consumes a wide range of small creatures, mostly insects, including

flies, weevils and various larvae.[38] Unlike the more ground-foraging superb fairywrens, they mostly forage deep inside shrubby vegetation, which is less than 2 m (7 ft) above the ground.[35]

Threats

Major nest predators include

shrike-thrushes, as well as introduced mammals such as the red fox, feral cats and black rat.[39] The variegated fairywren readily adopts 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.[25]

Cultural depictions

The variegated fairywren appeared on a 45c postage stamp in the Australia Post Nature of Australia – Desert issue released in June 2002.[40]

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T155093173A155353765.en
    . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1826.tb00115.x
    .
  3. ^ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 160.
  4. ^ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 143.
  5. ^ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 159.
  6. ^ Mathews GM (1923). The Birds of Australia. Vol. Supplement 2. London: Witherby & Co. p. 94.
  7. ^ Australian Biological Resources Study (28 February 2013). "Subgenus Malurus (Leggeornis) Mathews, 1912". Australian Faunal Directory. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Australian Government. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  8. ^ Schodde R (1975). Interim List of Australian Songbirds. Melbourne: RAOU.
  9. PMID 11839199
    .
  10. PMID 15263073
    .
  11. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2017). "Lyrebirds, scrubbirds, bowerbirds, Australasian wrens". World Bird List Version 7.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  12. ISBN 978-0-643-10471-6
    .
  13. ISBN 0-7018-1051-3
    .
  14. doi:10.1093/biolinnean/blx004
    .
  15. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2018). "Species Updates". World Bird List Version 8.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  16. ISBN 0-670-90478-3
    .
  17. ^ a b Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 162.
  18. ^ Rowley & Russell 1997, pp. 143–44.
  19. ^ Rowley & Russell 1997, pp. 160–61.
  20. ^ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 145.
  21. ^ a b Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 144.
  22. S2CID 38220252
    .
  23. ^ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 163.
  24. ^ Rowley & Russell 1997, pp. 165–66.
  25. ^ a b c d e f Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 164.
  26. ^ Marchant S (1992). "A bird observatory at Moruya, N.S.W. 1975–84". Eurobodalla Natural History Society, Occasional Publication (1): 1–99.
  27. ISBN 0-86417-565-5
    .
  28. ^ Dalby-Ball, Mia (2007). "Results in of Inaugural Fairy Wren Survey". Pittwater Council website. Pittwater Council. Archived from the original on November 10, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
  29. ^ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 134.
  30. ^ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 142.
  31. ^ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 141.
  32. ^ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 161-62.
  33. ^ Strong M, Cuffe E (1985). "Petal display by the Variegated Wren". Sunbird. 15: 71.
  34. ^ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 75.
  35. ^
    doi:10.1071/MU9860131
    . Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  36. ISBN 0-646-42798-9
    .
  37. ^ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 119.
  38. ^ Barker RD, Vestkens WJ (1990). Food of Australian Birds: Vol. 2 – Passerines. CSIRO. p. 557.
  39. ^ Rowley & Russell 1997, p. 121.
  40. ^ "Desert Birds". Australian Stamps. Australia Post. 9 August 2001. Archived from the original on 8 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-13.

Cited text

  • Rowley, Ian; Russell, Eleanor (1997). Bird Families of the World:Fairy-wrens and Grasswrens. Oxford, United Kingdom:
    ISBN 0-19-854690-4
    .

External links
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