The emperor fairywren (''Malurus cyanocephalus'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is found in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

in its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

of subtropical or tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s. It is the largest species of fairywren. It is highly

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

. Males have a blue and black plumage, with the females having blue and black plumage only on their heads, with the rest of the body being coloured a rusty brown and having a black tail tipped with white. There are 3 recognized subspecies of the emperor fairywren, one from north and northwestern New Guinea, one from Biak Island, and one from south New Guinea and the Aru Islands. Like other fairywrens, the emperor fairywren is socially monogamous and sexually

promiscuous Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous by ma ...

, and is a cooperative breeder. Its nests are made of leaves, ferns, and moss, and laced in bushes at an elevation. Its diet is mostly composed of insects. Foraging occurs in family groups.

Taxonomy and systematics

The emperor fairywren was originally described by Jean Quoy and Joseph Gaimard in 1830 based on specimens collected by them in northwestern

in 1827 on a voyage of the l'Astrolabe. They mistook the specimens as

todies The todies are a family, Todidae, of tiny Caribbean birds in the order Coraciiformes, which also includes the kingfishers, bee-eaters and rollers. The family has one living genus, '' Todus'', and one genus known from the fossil record, '' Palaeot ...

, and described the species as ''Todus cyanocephalus''. In 1854, Charles Lucien Bonaparte recognised that the species was not a tody, and created the genus '' Todopsis'', making the emperor fairywren its

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

. In 1859, George Gray described ''Todopsis bonapartii'' as a species on the basis of specimens from the

Aru Islands The Aru Islands Regency ( id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru) is a group of about 95 low-lying islands in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. It also forms a regency of Maluku Province, with a land area of . At the 2011 Census the Regency had a ...

, while Adolf Meyer described ''Todopsis mysorensis'' on the basis of specimens from

Biak Biak is an island located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak is the largest island in its small archipelago, and has many atolls, reefs, and corals. The large ...

in 1874. However,

Walter Rothschild Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, Baron de Rothschild, (8 February 1868 – 27 August 1937) was a British banker, politician, zoologist and soldier, who was a member of the Rothschild family. As a Zionist leader, he was presen ...

and Ernst Hartert included them as subspecies of ''T. cyanocephalus,'' while adding ''T. c. dohertyi'' as a fourth subspecies from northern New Guinea on the basis of differences in the colour of the females. In 1982,

Richard Schodde Richard Schodde, OAM (born 23 September 1936) is an Australian botanist and ornithologist. Schodde studied at the University of Adelaide, where he received a BSc (Hons) in 1960 and a PhD in 1970. During the 1960s he was a botanist with the CSI ...

moved the emperor fairywren from ''Todopsis'' to ''

Malurus ''Malurus'' is a genus of bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. Taxonomy and systematics Extant species The following table reports the English names proposed for the twelve species recognised by the listing of the International Or ...

and'' included ''dohertyi'' as a part of ''M. c. cyanocephalus''. The generic name ''Malurus'' is from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''malos'' (soft) and ''oura'' (tail), while the specific epithet comes from the

''kuanos'' (dark blue) and ''kephalos'' (headed). Alternate names include the blue fairywren, blue wren-warbler, emperor wren, imperial fairywren, imperial wren, and New Guinea blue-wren. The emperor fairywren is one of 11 species in the genus ''

''. Within the genus, it is variously said to be most closely related to the chestnut-shouldered wrens and a group comprising the bi-colored and blue wrens. Like other fairywrens, the emperor fairywren is not related to the true wrens. The fairywrens were previously classified in the

Muscicapidae The Old World flycatchers are a large family, the Muscicapidae, of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World (Europe, Africa and Asia), with the exception of several vagrants and two species, Bluethroat (''Luscinia svecica)'' and Northe ...

and the

Sylviidae Sylviidae is a family of passerine birds that includes the typical warblers and a number of babblers formerly placed within the Old World babbler family. They are found in Eurasia and Africa. Taxonomy and systematics The scientific name Sylvii ...

before being put in the newly established

Maluridae The Australasian wrens are a family, Maluridae, of small, insectivorous passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea. While commonly known as wrens, they are unrelated to the true wrens. The family comprises 32 species (including sixteen ...

in 1975. DNA evidence has shown the Maluridae to be most closely related to the

Meliphagidae The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, miners and melidectes. They are most common in Australia and New Gu ...

and the Pardalotidae in the superfamily

Meliphagoidea __NOTOC__ Meliphagoidea is a superfamily of passerine birds. They contain a vast diversity of small to mid-sized songbirds widespread in the Austropacific region. The Australian Continent has the largest richness in genera and species. Systemat ...

Subspecies

Three subspecies of the emperor fairywren are recognized: * ''M. c. cyanocephalus'' ( Quoy &

Gaimard Joseph Paul Gaimard (31 January 1793 – 10 December 1858) was a French naval surgeon and naturalist. Biography Gaimard was born at Saint-Zacharie on January 31, 1793. He studied medicine at the naval medical school in Toulon, subsequent ...

, 1830): It is the nominate subspecies, and is found in north-western and northern New Guinea. * ''M. c. mysorensis'' ( Meyer, AB, 1874): It was originally described as a separate species in the genus ''Todopsis''. It is found on Biak (off north-western New Guinea). Its crown tends to be slightly lighter than that of the nominate subspecies. * ''M. c. bonapartii'' ( Gray, GR, 1859): It was originally described as a separate species in the genus ''Todopsis''. It is found in southern New Guinea and Aru Islands. It is slightly darker than the other two subspecies.

Description

It is the largest fairywren, being long and weighing . Males of the nominate race have light

royal blue Royal blue is a deep and vivid shade of blue. It is said to have been created by clothiers in Rode, Somerset, a consortium of whom won a competition to make a dress for Queen Charlotte, consort of King George III. Brightness The ''Oxford E ...

crowns. The forehead, lores, and the side of the head up till the narrow collar is black. The upper back, along with the

scapulars The scapula (plural scapulae or scapulas), also known as the shoulder blade, is the bone that connects the humerus (upper arm bone) with the clavicle (collar bone). Like their connected bones, the scapulae are paired, with each scapula on either ...

and uppertail-

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are s ...

is a deep turquoise-blue, with the lower back being blue-black. The upperwing and the tail are blackish-blue with tinges of blue, and the throats and underparts are a

navy blue Navy blue is a very dark shade of the color blue. Navy blue got its name from the dark blue (contrasted with naval white) worn by officers in the Royal Navy since 1748 and subsequently adopted by other navies around the world. When this color ...

in color. It has dark brown eyes, black bill, and dark grey-brown legs. Females of the nominate race have a head that looks similar to the male, but have chestnut upperparts, white underparts, deep blue throats, and a black tail with whitish tips. They also have lighter and more mid-brown legs, along with duller crowns that are deeper in colour. Juveniles look like females, but have a dusky head, rusty brown upperparts, and entirely white underparts. ''M. c. mysorensis'' differs slightly in appearance with its crown being cobalt blue instead of royal blue, and ''M. c. bonapartii'' is slightly darker than the nominate race.

Vocalisations

Its songs are a reel that are preceded and followed by sets of 3 notes. This call is frequently given by groups of emperor fairywrens while they are foraging. The contact calls for the bird are "''tst-tst-tst-tst''”, with the alarm call being “''tschik''”.

Distribution and habitat

It is found on New Guinea and the Aru Islands. It is found in tropical

lowland Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of p ...

forests A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

, wetlands, and degraded former forests. They inhabit dense

secondary growth In botany, secondary growth is the growth that results from cell division in the cambia or lateral meristems and that causes the stems and roots to thicken, while primary growth is growth that occurs as a result of cell division at the tips of ...

that occurs at the edges of forest, along with forest openings, riversides, roadsides and overgrown gardens. They are not as affected by habitat disturbance and appear to like disturbed habitats like gardens and parks.

Behaviour and ecology

Diet

The emperor fairywren feeds mainly on arthropods. They eat beetles, bugs, moths, grasshoppers, and spiders.

Foraging Foraging is searching for wild food resources. It affects an animal's fitness because it plays an important role in an animal's ability to survive and reproduce. Foraging theory is a branch of behavioral ecology that studies the foraging behavi ...

is conducted in noisy family groups, with the insects foraged from leaves, palm fronds and branches within of the ground.

Reproduction

Little is known about the breeding habits of the emperor fairywren, but as juveniles have been recorded from March-December, it probably breeds throughout the year. They are socially monogamous but sexually promiscuous, remaining paired throughout the year. It is a cooperative breeder, having helpers, most frequently former chicks, in pairs or small groups to help raise young. The only observed

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materi ...

was gourd-shaped with a side entrance, placed off the ground in a bush and containing 4 young. The nest was made out of strips of

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...

and leaves which were woven together with moss.

References

Cited text

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q608816 emperor fairywren Birds of New Guinea emperor fairywren Taxonomy articles created by Polbot