Category Archives: Fairy-wren
My first Superb Fairy-wrens
I was out in the Putty Valley area this weekend, and spotted my first Superb Fairy-wrens. We often see Variegated Fairy-wrens closer to home, but I’m delighted to see a Superb at last. The familiar squeaky trills drew my attention, and I snapped a couple of shots, but it wasn’t until I downloaded the photos that I saw these were not the usual catch!
First the female:
Overall, her colouring is similar to the Variegated Fairy-wrens. The differences are that the brownish patch around the eye is more cinnamon than chestnut, and her tail lacks the blue of her Variegated cousin. Here’s another shot of the same bird:
The male was, as usual, hard to photograph. He’s partially obscured by a twig, but you can still make out the bright and darker blues. He lacks the chestnut shoulders of the Variegated Fairy-wren:
The next one is, I think, a juvenile male. The blue colouring is just starting to appear:
Common name: Superb Fairy-wren
Scientific name: Malurus cyaneus
Approximate length: 13-14 cm
Date spotted: 15 March 2024 (summer)
Location: Putty Valley, New South Wales, Australia: 32°54’00.8″S 150°38’16.9″E
Gorgeous male Fairy-wren with glossy blue tail
I took a number of shots of this lovely little Variegated Fairy-wren. As usual, only one of the shots was anywhere near usable. Here it is:
Like many bird names in Australia, the name “fairy-wren” is misleading. These birds aren’t actually wrens. They’re related to honeyeaters and pardalotes.
This one is a male, and in full breeding colour. I haven’t seen such a glossy blue tail before!
Common name: Variegated Fairy-wren
Scientific name: Malurus lamberti
Approximate length: 13 cm
Date spotted: 5 October 2023 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°47’00.6″S 151°15’19.5″E
Fairy-wrens in full finery
Variegated Fairy-wrens are quite common in my neck of the woods, but they’re very difficult to photograph. They move fast, pause only briefly, and prefer to keep hidden in the shrubbery. I took these shots over a few days, collecting mosquito bites at the same time as usable photos.
It’s spring, and the males are decked out in their breeding finery. They’re like blue fireflies lighting up the bush:
The long tail often sticks straight up. It must present quite a challenge to dashing around the shrubbery:
The females are a soft brown with pale blue hints in the tail. They have a red eye mask which can make them look slightly sardonic:
They’re like tiny little puffballs:
Like many bird names in Australia, the name “fairy-wren” is misleading. These birds aren’t actually wrens. They’re related to honeyeaters and pardalotes.
Common name: Variegated Fairy-wren
Scientific name: Malurus lamberti
Approximate length: 13 cm
Date spotted: September 2021 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’49.9″S 151°15’04.2″E (the male) and 33°46’20.8″S 151°14’30.6″E (the female)
Yaayyy a Fairy-wren
Fairy-wrens are a reasonably common sight in this area of Australia. What’s not common is my being fast enough to catch one of them in the camera lens! Most of my photos of Fairy-wrens show a blue blur or an empty branch.
Today I managed to catch this male Variegated Fairy-wren fairly and squarely in my sights:
There’s something about the solid blocks of colour on this bird that makes it difficult to capture a clear image, even when the bird is still long enough for a photo.
The bird was with two other males, which is also fairly uncommon. Usually I’ve seen a male with a group of females.
That ridiculous tail, so much at odds with the round puffy appearance of the rest of the bird, makes you think there’s something wrong with the photo:
Common name: Variegated Fairy-wren
Scientific name: Malurus lamberti
Approximate length: 13 cm
Date spotted: 25 September 2020 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’50.6″S 151°15’04.7″E
The strange case of the hooded Variegated Fairy-wren
I spotted this bird at Manly Dam this morning. It’s a female Variegated Fairy-wren, cunningly positioned half in shadow to give itself a dark grey hood. I was excited, thinking I may have found a very unusual bird, until I realised what was happening!
Common name: Variegated Fairy-wren
Scientific name: Malurus lamberti
Approximate length: 13 cm
Date spotted: 3 November 2019 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’44.8″S 151°14’57.9″E
Peek at a male Fairy-wren
I’ve had a bit of luck recently spotting Fairy-wrens darting through the undergrowth. You can usually hear them chirping, rustling, and trilling, but it’s rare to see one stay in one spot long enough to film them. Here’s a male Variegated Fairy-wren showing off his spring plumage:
Common name: Variegated Fairy-wren
Scientific name: Malurus lamberti
Approximate length: 13 cm
Date spotted: 3 September 2017 (Spring)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’52.6″S 151°15’08.2″E
Blue puffballs: Male Variegated Fairy-wren and partner
Two Variegated Fairy-wrens dropped in for a flying visit. The most visible one, with electric blue feathers, is male. The female has softer colouring, with blue tail feathers. Their excited chirping drew me to the window in time to make a quick video.
Common name: Variegated Fairy-wren
Scientific name: Malurus lamberti
Approximate length: 13 cm
Date spotted: 13 February 2017 (Summer)
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Two chirpy Variegated Fairy-wrens
Followers of this blog will know that I’m building up a collection of pictures of fairy wrens, bit by hard-won bit! They’re tiny little birds that like to flit around the undergrowth, granting observers tantalising glimpses but not much more.
These two female Variegated Fairy-wrens were out in the open for a few seconds, which has to be some kind of record. They’re chirping sociably to each other as they hop along next to a bush path.
Common name: Variegated Fairy-wren
Scientific name: Malurus lamberti
Approximate length: 13 cm
Date spotted: 12 February 2017
Season: Summer
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’47.9″S 151°15’02.7″E
Fairy-wrens in motion
Fairy-wrens are always in motion. That’s what makes them so difficult to capture on film. Today I caught a number of smudges and smears of blue, and a few good shots too.
This still photo is of a female fairy-wren. She’s not really headless, but it’s the best shot I could get. Her colouring is less spectacular than the male, but she’s still pretty.
(I managed to get a good shot of a male fairy-wren about a month ago.)
This video shows her flitting from branch to branch:
This is her male companion:
And the male again:
Common name: Variegated Fairy-wren
Scientific name: Malurus lamberti
Approximate length: 13 cm
Date spotted: 27 August 2016
Season: Late winter
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°46’53.5″S 151°15’09.4″E
Fairy-wren at last
I’ve been trying for ages to get a photo of a Fairy-wren. They’re tiny little puffballs of energy, never in one place long enough to focus the camera. I’ve managed plenty of blurs and smudges. Now at last here’s a recognisable picture.
Common name: Variegated Fairy-wren
Scientific name: Malurus lamberti
Approximate length: 13 cm
Date spotted: 31 July 2016
Season: Winter
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia
Latitude/longitude: 33°46’55.7″S 151°15’26.9″E
Sydney Birder 