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Fairy Wren Identification.
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Having trouble identifying a bird? Hopefully, someone here can help.
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Fairy Wren Identification. 10 months 1 week ago #3466

  • Gordon Roberts
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These photos were taken in Sobasado Park in Broome. It is mainly Pindan bush with drainage channel through it. These birds were moving along the edge of the bush and coming out into the drainage channel grasses and shrubs. I'm thinking that they are Variegated Fairy Wrens, (Note Pizzey and Knight show that these birds are here, Ebird state never reported.) I'm basing my ID on the head shot of the male. The blue cap bleeds down to the cheek. In both the superb and Splendid Fairy Wrens there is a solid black eye band. between the blue of the Cap and the blue on the cheek.
Would love your thoughts.
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Fairy Wren Identification. 10 months 1 week ago #3467

  • Simon Pelling
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The blue males look like Variegated. According to the ABG it is the only blue wren at Broome.

The others are more problematic. Female and juvenile Variegated have dark lores (the area between the eye and the beak), and also the female had a blueish tail. I am not seeing either in the brown birds, so I don't think they are Variegated. I think you might have two species here, with the brown birds being juvenile or non-breeding Red-backed. The Red-backed has a very plain non-breeding appearance with a brown tail and plain lores.

Simon

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Fairy Wren Identification. 10 months 1 week ago #3468

  • Doug Castle
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eBird splits Variegated and Purple-backed Fairywrens. The blue males at Broome would be recorded in eBird as purple-backed FairyWrens. The Pizzey and Knight reference is the pre split listing.

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Fairy Wren Identification. 10 months 1 week ago #3469

  • Gordon Roberts
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Thanks Doug, I will see what ebird say. Do you now if Pizzey and Knight have updated their list.

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Fairy Wren Identification. 10 months 1 week ago #3470

  • Simon Pelling
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v4 of the Birdlife working list of birds has also made this change, and has separated out 4 subspecies of Purple-backed.

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