Alternative names: Blue Wren-warbler; Imperial Wren; Blue Fairywren; Imperial Fairywren, New Guinea Blue-wren
- Malurus cyanocephalus
Identification
13-16cm. The largest Fairywren.
Male
- Light metallic royal blue crown
- Black forehead, lores, side of head and narrow collar
- Deep turquoise-blue upper back, scapulars and uppertail-coverts
- Blue-black lower back
- Blackish upperwing and tail with blue tinges
- Deep navy-blue throat and underparts
Female
- Head like male
- Chestnut upperparts
- Black tail with broad white tips
- Deep blue throat
- White underparts
Immatures like females but with dusky black head, rusty-brown upperparts and entire underparts white.
Distribution
Found on New Guinea and Aru Islands.
Not common.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 3 subspecies[1]:
- M. c. cyanocephalus:
- Lowlands of western New Guinea, Salawati and Yapen islands
- M. c. mysorensis:
- Lowlands of Biak Island (northern New Guinea)
- M. c. bonapartii:
- Southern New Guinea and Aru Islands
An additional subspecies dohertyi is generally considered invalid[2]
Habitat
Lowland damp forests. Also forest openings, riversides, roadsides and overgrown gardens.
Behaviour
Feeds on arthropods.
Gleans prey from leaves, palm fronds and banches, usually close to the ground.
Forages noisily in family parties, not in mixed-species flocks.
Breeding little known, juveniles recorded from March to December. A socially monogamous species but probably sexually promiscuous. A co-operative breeder, young birds from last year often as helpers. Only one nest found, gourd-shaped with a side entrance and made from strips of fern and leaves. It was placed 1m above the ground in a bush and contained 4 young.
A resident species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2012. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2012. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2007. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553422
- Avibase
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Emperor Fairywren. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 10 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Emperor_Fairywren
