Profile
In flight
Songbirds
Splendid Fairywren
Malurus splendens
- rare
- 42 km/h
- Least Concern
Males molt into brilliant blue to impress females, then back to brown. Dress to deliver.
- Habitat
- Arid to semi-arid shrublands and woodlands, including mulga, mallee eucalypt, and acacia scrub with dense understory vegetation; also found in mallee-heath and, in the southwest, some forested areas and urban parks/gardens.
- Fun fact
- Breeding male splendid fairywrens perform an unusual courtship display in which they pluck colorful (often pink or purple) flower petals and present them to females — yet despite forming socially monogamous pairs, over a third of offspring result from extra-pair ("promiscuous") matings.
- Range
- Australia, in two disjunct populations: a western population from Shark Bay through Western Australia and South Australia to the Northern Territory, and an eastern population from the Flinders Ranges (SA) through northwestern Victoria and New South Wales (east to Moree/Balranald) to south-central/southwestern Queensland.
- Diet
- Predominantly insectivorous — ants, grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, and other bugs foraged on the ground and in low shrubs, often in social groups — supplemented with seeds, flowers, and fruit.
- Size
- 0.14 m
