Purple-backed Fairywren — Australian Bird Identification Guide

Bird guidePurple-backed Fairywren

A small bird with a very long blue tail that is held cocked.

⚠️Not listed

At a glance

FamilyFairywrens

SizeTiny

RarityCommon

HabitatOver much of the species’s inland range, females are overall grayish birds with pale fronts and long blue tails; however, females of the subspecies found in the sandstone regions of the Kimberley and Arnhem Land have contrasting blue crowns and backs.

Best timeMost reliable in Queensland from June to September.

Sounds

Sound sample

0:000:00

Recorded by Louis Masarei

Range map

Occurrence window

4774visible hotspots

50105visible records

5states

Low confidenceMediumHigh confidence

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

Small pale tips are sometimes visible on the tail. Over much of the species’s inland range, females are overall grayish birds with pale fronts and long blue tails; however, females of the subspecies found in the sandstone regions of the Kimberley and Arnhem Land have contrasting blue crowns and backs. This species occurs over much of arid inland Australia and is found in open vegetation.