Purple-backed fairywren facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Purple-backed fairywren |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Malurus
|
| Species: |
assimils
|
The purple-backed fairywren (Malurus assimilis) is a small, colorful bird found across Australia. It belongs to a group of birds called fairywrens. This bird was first described by Alfred John North in 1901. There are four different types, or subspecies, of the purple-backed fairywren.
Male and female purple-backed fairywrens look very different, especially during breeding season. This is called sexual dimorphism. The breeding male has bright colors like chestnut (reddish-brown) on its shoulders and bright blue on its head and ear feathers. Females, young birds, and males not in breeding season are mostly grey-brown. However, females of two subspecies have blue-grey feathers. These fairywrens live in scrubland areas with lots of thick plants for cover.
Contents
About the Purple-backed Fairywren
The purple-backed fairywren was first named by an Australian bird expert, Alfred John North, in 1901. He called it the "purple-backed superb warbler." For a long time, many thought it was just a type of variegated fairywren. But in 2018, scientists found that its DNA was different enough to make it its own species again.
Fairywrens are not related to the "true wrens" you might find in other parts of the world. At first, scientists thought fairywrens were part of the Old World flycatcher or warbler families. Later, they were placed in their own family, called Maluridae. More recent DNA studies show that fairywrens are related to honeyeaters and pardalotes.
The official name for this bird is "Purple-backed fairywren." This name was given by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC).
Types of Purple-backed Fairywrens
There are four main types, or subspecies, of the purple-backed fairywren. They often mix in areas where their homes meet.
- M. a. assimilis - This type is found across central Australia. It lives from Queensland and western New South Wales all the way to the coast of Western Australia.
- Lavender-flanked fairywren (M. a. dulcis) - This type was once thought to be a separate species. It lives in Arnhem Land in north-central Australia. Females of this type are mostly blue-grey, not grey-brown. They also have white around their eyes, unlike the reddish-brown of other types.
- Rogers's fairywren (M. a. rogersi) - This type is found in the Kimberleys in north-western Australia. Like the lavender-flanked fairywren, its females are mostly blue-grey.
- M. a. bernieri - This type lives on Bernier Island and Dorre Island off the coast of Western Australia. The breeding males of this type are darker than the assimilis type.
How Fairywrens Evolved
Scientists believe that the group of fairywrens with chestnut shoulders, including the purple-backed fairywren, started in northern Australia. Over millions of years, as the climate changed, these birds spread across the continent. When conditions became drier, their homes sometimes broke apart, causing groups of birds to become separated. These separated groups then slowly changed and became new species, like the red-winged fairywren and the blue-breasted fairywren.
After the last ice age, about 12,000 to 13,000 years ago, the northern types of variegated fairywrens spread south again. This led to the purple-backed fairywren we see today. This spreading means that the purple-backed fairywren's home now overlaps with the homes of four other fairywren species.
What the Purple-backed Fairywren Looks Like
The purple-backed fairywren is about 14.5 cm (5.5 in) long.
Male birds in breeding season are very striking. They have bright blue ear feathers and a blue-purple head. Their throat and the back of their neck are black. Their upper back is blue-purple, and their shoulders are chestnut-colored. Their tail is bluish-grey, and their belly is white. The wings are a dull brown.
The colors of both male and female assimilis fairywrens become lighter from east to west across Australia. The birds in northwestern Australia are the palest.
When not breeding, males, females, and young birds of the assimilis type are mostly grey-brown. However, females of the rogersi and dulcis types are mainly blue-grey.
Males of all types have a black beak and black skin around their eyes. Females of the assimilis and rogersi types have a reddish-brown beak and bright reddish-brown skin around their eyes. Females of the dulcis type have white skin around their eyes.
Young males will get black beaks by six months old. They will get their bright breeding colors in their first breeding season. It might take a year or two for their colors to be perfect. Both male and female birds lose their feathers (moult) in autumn after breeding. Males then get their dull non-breeding feathers. They will moult again in winter or spring to get their bright breeding feathers back.
The bright blue feathers of the breeding males are very shiny. This shine is called iridescence. It happens because of the special shape of their feathers. These blue feathers also reflect ultraviolet light. This means other fairywrens, who can see ultraviolet light, might see these colors even more brightly!
Where They Live and Their Home
The purple-backed fairywren lives across most of Australia. It is not found in southwestern Western Australia, where other fairywren species live. It is also not found north of a certain line in Queensland, where the lovely fairywren lives.
These birds prefer scrubland areas with lots of thick plants for cover. They like rocky areas and patches of plants like Acacia or Eremophila. In northern Australia, they prefer open woodlands with thickets of lancewood and bullwaddy trees. They also live in areas with saltbush and other low plants, along with larger trees like black box and native cypress.
Sadly, clearing land for farms in Western Australia and Victoria has harmed these birds. Also, cattle eating the saltbush plants can affect their homes.
Behaviour
Reproduction and Life Cycle
Purple-backed fairywrens can breed at any time in inland Australia. They often nest after heavy rains. Usually, they raise only one group of young birds each year.
Their nest is shaped like a ball or a dome. It is made of loosely woven grasses, small branches, bark, and spider webs. It has an entrance on one side. These nests are often larger than those of other fairywrens. Nests found in Shark Bay were about 9 to 11 cm tall and 5 to 9 cm wide.
See also
In Spanish: Maluro de espalda morada para niños
