Understanding Fairywren Breeding Plumage

Many birdwatchers think that the male fairywren is always in its beautiful breeding plumage and the female is the only sex in the drab brown. This is not correct and many birders can make mistakes whilst identifying the specific Fairywren species thinking it is a female, but instead actually locating a male in non-breeding plumage.

Firstly, the females do stay with their brownish plumage for the entire year and it is only the males that are different. For 2-5 months male fairywrens have their breeding plumage, and males who showcase the best will get a mate. Older males with more testosterone can hold their breeding feathers much longer which improves their chances of being recognised by a female. This gives a longer window of opportunity for the female to spot him compared to a smaller time frame for younger males.

Males have adapted over time to maximise their chance of a mate through adventitious breeding/moulting. Males will moult multiple times during the mating season to allow for continuous bright plumage and no dull breeding plumage feathers, which could create a lack of interest for the females.

When breeding time is over males moult their feathers and start to look more like the females. This is where males can look like they are stuck between breeding and non-breeding plumage (see attached image).

If out in the field with a group of fairywrens it can be mistaken that the entire group is all females. This is incorrect because fairywrens always have the same amount of males and females inside a group. It is certain that the males are just not in their breeding plumage.

Non-breeding Fairywren males can be extremely hard to identify whilst in the field as they are an extremely fast moving bird. It can be difficult to notice the small differences between the genders. The easiest way to tell apart non-breeding males and females is by looking at the plumage. Even though they are quite similar there are some distinguishing factors.

In South-East Queensland, we have two main fairywren species the variegated fairywren and the red-backed fairywren (just a little further south, superb can be found, more around Lamington National Park.)

Variegated Fairywrens, when not in breeding plumage have a completely black beak compared to a orange beak presented by the females.

Red-Backed Fairywrens are much harder to distinguish and sometimes can be unidentifiable. The beak usually can have a brownish tinge on both sexes, however the male may still have a black beak from the breeding season.

Thanks for reading, I hope you found this journal interesting.
Kind Regards,
Thomas McPherson

Posted on October 7, 2020 08:30 AM by thomasmcphersonphotography