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16

Red-winged Fairy-wren

(Malurus elegans)
Alternate name(s): "Marsh Wren", "Elegant Fairy Wren", "Red-winged Wren", "Graceful Wren"
Aboriginal name(s): "djorrdjilya*", "djodal*"

Size: 14-16 cm
Weight: 8-11 g

Similar
species

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

Physical description

Click here for a physical description

Taxonomy, classification

See Red-winged Fairy-wren at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species

Click here for information on habitat and range

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

Photos

ADULT

MALE

BREEDING

Partly obscured frontal view of a male Red-winged Fairy-wren in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Walpole, WA, August 2018]

Near-frontal view of a male Red-winged Fairy-wren in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Margaret River, WA, April 2019]

Near-lateral view of a male Red-winged Fairy-wren in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Margaret River, WA, April 2019]

Near-lateral view of a male Red-winged Fairy-wren with its wings and tail fanned, ready for take-off
(photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Albany, WA, January 2015]

Lateral view of a male Red-winged Fairy-wren in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Margaret River, WA, April 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a male Red-winged Fairy-wren in breeding plumage, tail down (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Margaret River, WA, April 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a male Red-winged Fairy-wren in breeding plumage, tail up and wagging (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Margaret River, WA, April 2019]

NON-BREEDING

Close-up frontal view of a male Red-winged Fairy-wren in non-breeding plumage - note the black lores
(photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Manjimup, WA, March 2015]

Near-frontal view of a male Red-winged Fairy-wren in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Margaret River, WA, April 2019]

Lateral view of a male Red-winged Fairy-wren in non-breeding plumage; although the bird is looking away, one can see its black lores (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Margaret River, WA, April 2019]

Lateral view of a male Red-winged Fairy-wren in near non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Manjimup, WA, March 2015]

FEMALE

Frontal view of a female Red-winged Fairy-wren - note the rufous lores (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Albany, WA, January 2015]

Lateral view of a female Red-winged Fairy-wren (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Manjimup, WA, March 2015]

Clan of Red-winged Fairy-wrens; female, centre, male in breeding plumage, right, and non-breeding male, left
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Margaret River, WA, April 2019]

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.

We will try to replace the rather poor recording below with a better one ASAP.

rwfairy_jg_20150210.m4a (SW WA) Territorial call © JG

More Red-winged 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.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site?
If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.