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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, particularly this one, the white-winged fairy-wren. Males are deep indigo blue with shining white wings; females (upper right) are brownish (typical for fairy-wrens). I took the photos at the Fowlers Gap arid zone research station, about 100 km north of Broken Hill in far northwestern New South Wales. This species was extremely shy and frustratingly unwilling to let me get close enough for good photography. I was able to get far better pictues of the sympatric purple-backed fairy-wren, which was much more confiding. Perhaps surprisingly, I think there is an even more brilliantly colored fairy-wren than the white-wing: the stunning splendid fairy-wren. |
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