The dozen or so species of fairy-wrens are some of the most stunningly colorful and charming of Australian birds.   All are tiny birds with long tails that are often cocked, and the males usually have brilliant shimmering colors on the head (and sometimes the rest of the body).   The effect is especially dazzling in the several species that live in dry scrubland.   Females (below, left) are typically brownish.   Most species live in small social groups and have cooperative breeding (adult non-parents help feed chicks).   This is the most widely distributed species, the purple-backed fairy-wren, a fairly common bird of dry scrubland (of which there is a lot in Australia).   I took these photos at the Fowlers Gap arid zone research station, about 100 km north of Broken Hill in far northwestern New South Wales.
        When I took these pictures in 2009, the purple-backed fairy-wren was thought to an inland race of the variegated fairy-wren, but they are now considered separate species.   Variegated fairy-wrens are found east of the Great Dividing Range, where they occur with the familiar superb fairy-wren
        During my two weeks of field reserach at 'the Gap', I was also able to get a few images of the sympatric white-winged fairy-wren, but it was difficult to approach.

• Canon 1D3 or 40D, 500 mm IS lens plus 1.4X or 2X extender, many with fill-in flash (2009)