12/26/2023 0 Comments Splendid city australia![]() Also named the black-backed wren, it is found in the mallee country of South Australia (Sedan area north-east of Adelaide) through western Victoria, western New South Wales and into south-western Queensland. melanotus) - Gould, 1841: Originally described as a separate species. It has lighter blue or turquoise upperparts than the splendid fairywren, as well as a black rump. It is found in mulga and mallee country across much of South Australia and the southern Northern Territory. ![]() Although the taxonomy is not yet settled, it is now considered to include the former subspecies musgravei described in 1922 by amateur ornithologist Gregory Mathews from the Lake Eyre Basin in central Australia. ![]() callainus) - Gould, 1867: Originally collected by ornithologist Samuel White and described as a separate species by John Gould. This is the nominate subspecies and is found in much of central and southern Western Australia. splendens) - ( Quoy & Gaimard, 1830): Also named the banded wren or banded blue wren. There are four subspecies currently recognized: Thus in 1975, they were then reclassified as subspecies of the splendid fairywren. However, as the interior of Australia was explored, it became apparent there were areas of hybridisation where subspecies overlapped. Initially, three of the subspecies were considered separate species as they were each originally described far from their borders with the others. The splendid fairywren is also alternatively named the splendid blue wren. More recently, DNA analysis has shown the family Maluridae to be related to the family Meliphagidae ( the honeyeaters), and the family Pardalotidae within a large superfamily, Meliphagoidea. It was first classified as a member of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae by Richard Bowdler Sharpe, though it was later placed in the warbler family Sylviidae by the same author, before being placed in the newly recognised family Maluridae in 1975. Like other fairywrens, the splendid fairywren is unrelated to the true wren. The specific epithet is derived from the Latin splendens, which means "shining". Though he correctly placed it in the genus Malurus, the specific name of the former authors took priority. Specimens were initially collected at King George Sound, and the splendid fairywren then described as Saxicola splendens by the French naturalists Jean René Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard in 1830, three years before John Gould gave it the scientific name of Malurus pectoralis and vernacular name of banded superb-warbler. These two "blue wrens" are closely related to the purple-crowned fairywren of north-western Australia. Within the genus it is most closely related to the superb fairywren. The splendid fairywren is one of eleven species of the genus Malurus, commonly known as fairywrens, found in Australia and lowland New Guinea. The splendid fairywren mainly eats insects and supplements its diet with seeds. Unlike the eastern superb fairywren, it has not adapted well to human occupation of the landscape and has disappeared from some urbanised areas. The habitat of the splendid fairywren ranges from forest to dry scrub, generally with ample vegetation for shelter. Male wrens pluck pink or purple petals and display them to females as part of a courtship display. Like other fairywrens, the splendid fairywren is notable for several peculiar behavioural characteristics the birds are socially monogamous and sexually promiscuous, meaning that although they form pairs between one male and one female, each partner will mate with other individuals and even assist in raising the young from such trysts. It comprises several similar all-blue and black subspecies that were originally considered separate species. Non-breeding males, females and juveniles are predominantly grey-brown in colour this gave the early impression that males were polygamous as all dull-coloured birds were taken for females. ![]() Exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism, the male in breeding plumage is a small, long-tailed bird of predominantly bright blue and black colouration. It inhabits predominantly arid and semi-arid regions. The splendid fairywren is found across much of the Australian continent from central-western New South Wales and southwestern Queensland over to coastal Western Australia. It is also known simply as the splendid wren or more colloquially in Western Australia as the blue wren. The splendid fairywren ( Malurus splendens) is a passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae.
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