Superb Fairywren Badge (2019)

Supurb Fairywren Badge (2019)

Did you know the adult male Superb Fairywren is one of the most brightly coloured of the species, especially during the breeding season? They have rich blue and black plumage above and on the throat. Their belly is grey-white, and their bill is black. Females and young birds are mostly brown with a dull red-orange area around the eye and a brown bill. Females have a pale greenish gloss, absent in young birds, on the otherwise brown tail. The legs are brown in both sexes. Males from further inland and in the south-west of the Great Dividing Range have more blue on their back and underparts.

If you want to attract Superb Fairy-wrens to your garden, they like to live in bushy trees or thickets with prickly branches or leaves about a meter off the ground, to provide a place to retreat from danger (especially cats) and to build a nest.  They like to eat insects, especially grasshoppers so you can help them by having an area of lawn or leaf mulch to attract insects as a readily available food supply for them. Avoid using garden pesticides which kill insects. In summer, don’t forget to provide a tub of water so they can bath and drink from it.

Don’t be surprised if one colourful male seems to be accompanied by a harem of brown birds. These are juvenile males and females and a breeding female.  Keep an eye out on the males, it’s not unusual for them to fight their own reflection in windows during the breeding season!