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16

Blue-breasted Fairy-wren (Malurus pulcherrimus) Alternate name(s): "Purple-breasted Fairy-wren", "Blue-breasted Superb Warbler", "Blue-breasted Superb Fairy-wren", "Blue-breasted Wren" Size: 13.5-15 cm Body mass: 8-11 g

Australia: Family Group 16 Family Group 16 Table Purple-crowned Fairy-wren White-winged Fairy-wren Splendid Fairy-wren Superb Fairy-wren Variegated Fairy-wren Purple-backed Fairy-wren Blue-breasted Fairy-wren Lovely Fairy-wren Red-winged Fairy-wren Red-backed Fairy-wren Southern Emu-wren Rufous-crowned Emu-wren Carpentarian Grasswren Eyrean Grasswren Striated Grasswren Thick-billed Grasswren Western Grasswren Dusky Grasswren Kalkadoon Grasswren Grey Grasswren Black Grasswren Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Blue-breasted Fairy-wrens are tiny birds with long tails. Like all other Australian fairy-wren species, their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. In addition, malesbreeding and eclipse plumages. Male Blue-breasted Fairy-wrens in breeding plumage have black lores, deep-blue throats and breasts with a black lower margin, off-white bellies and vents, blue eye rings, ear coverts and caps, with reddish-brown wing coverts and dark-brown flight feathers. The tail is dark-blue. The bill is black, the legs and feet are greyish-pink. Female Blue-breasted Fairy-wrens have an off-white front, with a light greyish-brown head, greyish-brown wings and blue tail. The lores are dark-brown, the bill is dark orange-brown and the legs and feet are the colour of skin. Male Blue-breasted Fairy-wrens in eclipse have black lores and pale grey eye-rings. They keep their dark bill and greyish-pink legs and feet, but otherwise they resemble females. Juveniles resemble females, only - when very young - with shorter tail feathers. Twitcher's tip For direct comparisons between Blue-breasted Fairy-wrens and Purple-backed Fairy-wrens see comparative photos below.

Taxonomy, classification See Blue-breasted Fairy-wren at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Blue-breasted Fairy-wren is available HERE . Blue-breasted Fairy-wrens are endemic to Australia. They are found only in southern and south-western Australia. Their range extends from south-western WA, from Shark Bay to Esperance (with the exceptions of the far south-western tip and the Perth metropolitan area), along the South coast, through the Nullarbor, to the eastern base of Eyre peninsula near Whyalla, SA. Blue-breasted Fairy-wrens have a preference for vegetation on sandy soils, such as heath or shrubby undergrowth in woodland.

Sightings Click here for sighting information M. Eaton reports finding Blue-breasted Fairy-wrens at Lake Gilles Conservation Park, SA, in October 2022. All sighting, photographic and audio information presented on this page has been kindly contributed by M. Eaton.

Photos

ADULT

PAIR

BREEDING

Near-frontal view of a pair of Blue-breasted Fairy-wrens, male in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Gilles CP, SA, October 2022]

MALE

BREEDING

Frontal view of a male Blue-breasted Fairy-wren in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Gilles CP, SA, October 2022]

Near-frontal view of a male Blue-breasted Fairy-wren in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Gilles CP, SA, October 2022]

Near-lateral view of a male Blue-breasted Fairy-wren in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Gilles CP, SA, October 2022]

Near-lateral view of a male Blue-breasted Fairy-wren in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Gilles CP, SA, October 2022]

Direct comparison of a male Blue-breasted Fairy-wren, left, and a male Purple-backed Fairy-wren, both in breeding plumage; note how the bib of the male Blue-breasted Fairy-wren is deep-blue, with a black lower margin, whereas that of the male Purple-backed Fairy-wren is all-black (photos courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Gilles CP and Whyalla CP, SA, October 2022]

Lateral view of a male Blue-breasted Fairy-wren in breeding plumage, tail cocked (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Gilles CP, SA, October 2022]

Lateral view of a male Blue-breasted Fairy-wren in breeding plumage, tail down (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Gilles CP, SA, October 2022]

Lateral view of a male Blue-breasted Fairy-wren in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Gilles CP, SA, October 2022]

Dorsal view of a male Blue-breasted Fairy-wren in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Gilles CP, SA, October 2022]

FEMALE

Frontal view of a female Blue-breasted Fairy-wren (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Gilles CP, SA, October 2022]

Near-lateral view of a female Blue-breasted Fairy-wren (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Gilles CP, SA, October 2022]

Lateral view of a female Blue-breasted Fairy-wren looking towards the observer (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Gilles CP, SA, October 2022]

Lateral view of a female Blue-breasted Fairy-wren (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Gilles CP, SA, October 2022]

Direct comparison of a female Blue-breasted Fairy-wren, left, and a female Purple-backed Fairy-wren; since female Blue-breasted Fairy-wrens have a darker bill, there is less colour contrast with the lores than in female Purple-backed Fairy-wrens (photos courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Gilles CP and Whyalla CP, SA, October 2022]

Lateral view of a female Blue-breasted Fairy-wren looking away from the observer (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Gilles CP, SA, October 2022]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

More Blue-breasted Fairy-wren sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.