Fairy-wrens (Maluridae)
Superb Fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus) - HBW 12, p. 520
French: Mérion superbe
German: Prachtstaffelschwanz
Spanish: Maluro Soberbio
Other common names: Blue Wren/Fairy-wren, Superb Blue Wren
Taxonomy: Motacilla cyanea Ellis, 1782, Tasmania, Australia.
Forms a superspecies with M. splendens; these two, together with M. coronatus, constitute the “Australian blue group”. Six subspecies recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- leggei Mathews, 1912 - extreme S & SE South Australia.
- ashbyi Mathews, 1912 - Kangaroo I, off South Australia.
- cyanochlamys Sharpe, 1881 - E & SE Australia from SE Queensland S to Victoria.
- leggei Mathews, 1912 - extreme S & SE South Australia.
- ashbyi Mathews, 1912 - Kangaroo I, off South Australia.
- cyanochlamys Sharpe, 1881 - E & SE Australia from SE Queensland S to Victoria.
- elizabethae A. J. Campbell, 1901 - King I, in W Bass Strait.
- samueli Mathews, 1912 - Flinders I, in E Bass Strait.
- cyaneus (Ellis, 1782) - Tasmania.
- Least Concern Enlarge map
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Adult male singing vigorously. Locality Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Stephen Wallace 28 February 2011 2 years ago 30 sec 4.9 -
Adult male preening and calling Locality Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Stephen Wallace 28 February 2011 2 years ago 26 sec 4.8 -
A begging juvenile perched on a stump Locality Fyshwick Sewage Ponds, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia (ssp cyanochlamys)
Nick Talbot 20 December 2006 6 years ago 13 sec 4.6 -
Male calling from a Banksia. Locality West Belconnen Pond, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Stephen Wallace 4 November 2011 1 year ago 35 sec 4.6 -
A male moving in a bush Locality Lockyer Valley, Queensland, Australia (ssp cyanochlamys)
Eldert Groenewoud 19 July 2007 4 years ago 22 sec 4.4 -
A male perching on a branch with a begging juvenile, the male then flies away Locality Fyshwick Sewage Ponds, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia (ssp cyanochlamys)
Nick Talbot 20 December 2006 6 years ago 3 sec 4.4
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Adult male on banksia opd
Locality Port of Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia (ssp cyanochlamys)
David Taylor 1 July 2012 40 weeks ago 4.8 -
This is the female Superb Fairy-wren
Locality Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
David Taylor 2 years ago 4.7 -
Female perched on a fern with an insect in her beak
Locality Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Peter Strauss 9 February 2013 14 weeks ago 4.7 -
Superb fairy-wren female
Locality Callum Brae, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Margaret Leggoe 23 September 2010 2 years ago 4.7 -
Another female of the very quaint Superb Fairy-wren
Locality Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
David Taylor 2 years ago 4.7 -
Male bird on banksia pod
Locality Port of Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
David Taylor 1 October 2011 1 year ago 4.6
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A group of birds calling near a road. Locality Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia
(ssp cyanochlamys)
Nick Talbot 7 January 2012 1 year ago 4 -
A bird calling from bushes next to a wetland. Locality Royal Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
(ssp cyanochlamys)
Nick Talbot 30 December 2011 1 year ago 3
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