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Rookery
Lovely Fairywren, a uncommon bird in Roost
  • Lovely Fairywren, profile

    Profile

  • Lovely Fairywren, in flight

    In flight

Songbirds

Lovely Fairywren

Malurus amabilis

  • uncommon
  • 36 km/h
  • Least Concern

Restricted to Cape York and tropical northeast Queensland. Brilliant blue male is the only blue fairywren up here.

Population
Not globally quantified numerically; described by BirdLife as locally fairly common, with a suspected stable population trend and no evidence of significant decline
Habitat
Dense undergrowth of tropical/subtropical rainforest margins, monsoon (vine) forest, and mangroves above high-tide level, from sea level up to about 650 m elevation; also uses degraded former forest
Fun fact
Male Lovely Fairywrens molt into a dazzling breeding plumage of iridescent azure-blue crown and ear coverts, chestnut shoulders, and a jet-black throat; the species' nests are sometimes parasitized by Brush Cuckoos, and it belongs to the "chestnut-shouldered" fairywren group, sister to the purple-backed fairywren.
Range
Endemic to the Cape York Peninsula and adjacent coastal areas of far north Queensland, Australia; non-migratory/sedentary with limited dispersal ability; extent of occurrence estimated between roughly 126,911 km² and 305,000 km² depending on source
Diet
Insectivorous — gleans caterpillars, beetles, and other small invertebrates from foliage, bark, and the ground in the arboreal/understorey layer
Size
0.13 m
Lifespan
12 years

More Songbirds

The next 12 of the 278 in the collection, after this one.