Profile
In flight
Songbirds
Red-backed Fairywren
Malurus melanocephalus
- rare
- 28 km/h
- Least Concern
Males flash a jet-black body and vivid crimson back. No blue at all. A fairywren doing its own thing.
- Population
- Unquantified; stable and often common
- Habitat
- Wet grassy tropical lowlands, heath, and savanna woodland
- Fun fact
- Breeding males molt into black-and-red plumage, then return to a duller eclipse plumage.
- Range
- Northern and eastern Australia
- Diet
- Insects and spiders, with a little plant material
- Size
- 0.115 m
- Wingspan
- 0.16 m
- Lifespan
- 6 years
