Portal:Australia/Featured article/Week 50, 2007



The Variegated Fairy-wren (Malurus lamberti) is a fairy-wren that lives in diverse habitats spread across most of Australia. Four subspecies are recognised. The brightly coloured breeding male has chestnut shoulders and blue crown and ear coverts, while non-breeding males, females and juveniles have predominantly grey-brown plumage. Notably, females of the two subspecies rogersi and dulcis (previously termed Lavender-flanked Fairy-wren) have mainly blue-grey plumage.

Like other fairy-wrens, the Variegated Fairy-wren is a cooperative breeding species, with small groups of birds maintaining and defending small territories year-round. Groups consist of a socially monogamous pair with several helper birds who assist in raising the young. Male wrens pluck yellow petals and display them to females as part of a courtship display. These birds are primarily insectivorous and forage and live in the shelter of scrubby vegetation across 90% of continental Australia, which is a wider range than that of any other fairy-wren.