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A small bird with a long tail that is held cocked.
Not listed
Endemic to Australia
At a glance
FamilyFairywrens
SizeTiny
RarityCommon
HabitatDense shrubs, grassy margins, scrub, hedgerows, and low cover near open feeding patches.
Best timeReported across most months in Victoria, with no narrow seasonal peak.
Sounds
Sound sampleRecorded by Marc Anderson
Range map
Range map
7313visible hotspots
1001913visible records
4states
SparseModerateDense hotspot
Aggregated occurance data is sourced from 14 different actively-updating datasets including eBird Australia, iNaturalist Australia, BirdLife Australia, and multiple state-based bird surveys through Atlas of Living Australia.
Species notes
Overview
Breeding males have a pale blue crown, cheek, and back with a strong black line from the bill through the eyes and around the back of the head. Nonbreeding males are fairly plain grayish-brown birds with black bills and bright blue tails. Females have a duller blue tail and a reddish bill. Note that the patch between the eye and bill (lores) on females is a reddish color of about the same tone as the bill (in Variegated and Purple-backed Fairywrens the lores are much darker than the bill). Female Superb Fairywrens have a much cooler and grayer plumage than the warm tones of Red-backed Fairywren. This species is abundant in parks, gardens, and open woodlands around much of southeastern Australia.
Behavior
Its tail is usually blue (except in juveniles, which have brown tails).
Gallery