

Profile

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











