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  Profile

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  In flight

Songbirds

White-winged Fairywren

Malurus leucopterus

• rare
• 28 km/h
• Least Concern

Brilliant blue body, pure white wings. Found in arid Australian scrub where few birds dare to live.

Population

Not formally quantified; BirdLife/IUCN describes it as common across much of its range with a stable population trend suspected in the absence of evidence for declines or substantial threats

Habitat

Arid and semi-arid heathlands and shrublands dominated by saltbush (Atriplex), bluebush (Maireana), tussock grass (Triodia), and cane-grass (Zygochloa); grassy scrub on offshore islands

Fun fact

During courtship, breeding males of this cooperatively-breeding species pluck petals from flowers and display them to females while performing a bowing display, flattening their plumage near-horizontally for up to 20 seconds.

Range

Mainland subspecies (M. l. leuconotus) widespread across arid/semi-arid interior and coastal Western Australia through central Australia to Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia (19-32°S); two black-and-white island subspecies restricted to Dirk Hartog Island (nominate M. l. leucopterus) and Barrow Island (M. l. edouardi), both off Western Australia

Diet

Primarily insectivorous — small beetles, bugs, moths, praying mantises, caterpillars, and other insects, plus spiders — supplemented with seeds, fruits, and plant shoots, especially from saltbush

Size

0.12 m