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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

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-wingeded 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 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 Red-winged Fairy-wrens are tiny birds with long tails. Like all other Australian species of fairy-wrens, their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. In addition, male Red-winged Fairy-wrens have different breeding and eclipse plumages. Male Red-winged Fairy-wrens in breeding plumage have black lores, throats and breasts, off-white bellies and vents, light blue eye rings, ear coverts and caps, with rufous-brown wing coverts and dark-brown flight feathers. The tail is dark-blue. The bill, legs and feet are black. Female Red-winged Fairy-wrens have a white throat and light-brown front, with a dark-grey head, brown wings and dark-blue tail. The bill is dark-grey, the legs and feet are yellow-orange. Male Red-winged Fairy-wrens in eclipse have black lores and red scapulars. They keep their dark legs and feet, but otherwise they resemble females. Twitcher's tip Compared to Variegated Fairy-wrens, male Red-winged Fairy-wrens in breeding plumage have somewhat lighter hues of blue on their head and back.

Taxonomy, classification See Red-winged 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 Red-winged Fairy-wren is available HERE . Red-winged Fairy-wrens are endemic to the south-western corner of Western Australia. They populate a wide (near-)coastal strip from just to the North of Perth, WA, to Fitzgerald River NP. Occasionally, they can be found a bit further inland, up to a line connecting Perth with Bremer Bay, WA. Red-winged Fairy-wrens have a preference for dense vegetation, either on the fringes of open country or near water, e.g. in swamps or reeds around lakes.

Sightings Click here for sighting information J. Greaves reports spotting Red-winged Fairy-wrens at Albany, WA, in January 2015, and again in Manjimup, WA, in March 2015. M. Mearns reports finding Red-winged Fairy-wrens at Walpole, WA, in August 2018. M. Eaton spotted Red-winged Fairy-wrens at Margaret River, WA, in April 2019.

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.

Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Wed, 7 April 2021, 1:10 +00:00