The lovely fairywren (''Malurus amabilis''), or lovely wren, is a species of bird in the

Australasian wren 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 ...

family, Maluridae. It is endemic to northeastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Its natural habitats are

subtropical or tropical dry forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

and

subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discont ...

Taxonomy and systematics

It is one of twelve species of the genus '' Malurus'', commonly known as fairywrens, found in Australia and lowland New Guinea. Within the genus it belongs to a group of five very similar species known collectively as chestnut-shouldered fairywrens. The other four species are the

variegated fairywren The variegated fairywren (''Malurus lamberti'') is a fairywren that lives in eastern Australia. In a species that exhibits sexual dimorphism, the brightly coloured breeding male has chestnut shoulders and azure crown and ear coverts, while no ...

, purple-backed fairywren, red-winged fairywren, and the blue-breasted fairywren. A 2011 analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA found that the lovely fairywren is the sister taxon of the Purple-backed fairywren. The lovely fairywren was first described by the

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

John Gould in 1852, from a male specimen collected by Captain

Owen Stanley Captain Owen Stanley FRS RN (13 June 1811 – 13 March 1850) was a British Royal Navy officer and surveyor. Life Stanley was born in Alderley, Cheshire, the son of Edward Stanley, rector of Alderley and later Bishop of Norwich. A brother w ...

in Cape York. Gould expected that a female would resemble that of a red-winged fairywren, and consequently described female specimens collected by John Jardine as a new species, ''Malurus hypoleucos''.-166 The generic name ''Malurus'' is from the Greek ''malos'' (soft) and ''oura'' (tail), while the specific epithet comes from the Latin adjective ''ămābǐlis'', meaning lovely. Lovely fairywren has been designated as its official name by the

IOU An IOU (Abbreviation, abbreviated from the phrase "I owe you") is usually an informal document acknowledging debt. An IOU differs from a promissory note in that an IOU is not a negotiable instrument and does not specify repayment terms such as th ...

. Other names for the species include lovely fairy-wren.

Description

Like other fairywrens, the lovely fairywren is notable for its marked sexual dimorphism, males adopting a highly visible breeding plumage of brilliant iridescent blue and chestnut contrasting with black and grey-brown. The brightly coloured crown and ear tufts are prominently featured in breeding displays. The male in breeding plumage has striking azure blue ear coverts, crown and upper back, a black throat and nape, chestnut shoulders and a white-tipped blue tail. The wings are black and the belly white. The female has smoky blue upperparts and tail, with turquoise ear tufts, and dark grey wings, and white below. Both sexes have black bills, brown eyes and flesh-grey feet. Immature birds resemble females but have brown bills.

Behaviour and ecology

Diet

The lovely fairywren is insectivorous and eats several types of insects, including caterpillars.

Breeding

The lovely fairywren is brood-parasitized by the brush cuckoo.

References

Works cited

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1164376 lovely fairywren Birds of Cape York Peninsula Endemic birds of Australia lovely fairywren Taxonomy articles created by Polbot