Maluridae
Encyclopedia
The Maluridae are a family
of small, insectivorous passerine
bird
s endemic to Australia
and New Guinea
. Commonly known as wrens, they are unrelated to the true wrens
of the Northern Hemisphere
. The family includes 14 species
of fairywren, 3 emu-wrens, and 10 grasswrens.
They are insectivorous
, typically foraging in underbrush. They build domed nests in areas of dense vegetation, and it is not unusual for the young to remain in the nest and assist in raising chicks from later clutches.
Fairywrens are notable for several peculiar behavioral characteristics. They are socially monogamous and sexually promiscuous, meaning that although they form pairs between one male and one female, each partner will mate with other individuals and even assist in raising the young from such pairings. Males of several species pluck petals of conspicuous colors and display them to females for reasons unknown.
The song of fairywrens is pleasant and complex, and at least two species (Superb and Splendid) possess, in addition to the alarm calls common to - and universally understood by - most small birds, another vocalization used when confronted by predators. This, termed "Type II Vocalization," is song-like and used when confronted by calling butcherbird
s, and sometimes other predatory birds. Its purpose is, however, unknown; it is certainly not a warning call.
s, Old World warbler
s, and Old World babbler
s. In the late 1960s morphological studies began to suggest that the Australo-Papuan fairywrens, the grasswrens, emu-wren
s and two monotypic wren-like genera from New Guinea
were related and, following Charles Sibley
's pioneering work on egg-white proteins in the mid-1970s, Australian researchers introduced the family name Maluridae in 1975.
With further morphological work and the great strides made in DNA
analysis towards the end of the 20th century, their position became clear: the Maluridae are one of the many families to have emerged from the great corvid radiation in Australasia. Their closest relatives are the Meliphagidae (honeyeater
s), and the Pardalotidae. Their obvious similarity to the wrens of Europe and America is not genetic, but simply the consequence of convergent evolution
between more-or-less unrelated species that share the same ecological niche.
)
FAMILY: MALURIDAE
Tribe Stipiturini
Subfamily Amytornithinae
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of small, insectivorous passerine
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s endemic to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
. Commonly known as wrens, they are unrelated to the true wrens
Wren
The wrens are passerine birds in the mainly New World family Troglodytidae. There are approximately 80 species of true wrens in approximately 20 genera....
of the Northern Hemisphere
Northern Hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...
. The family includes 14 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of fairywren, 3 emu-wrens, and 10 grasswrens.
Description
Malurids are small to medium birds, inhabiting a wide range of environments, from rainforest to desert, although most species inhabit grassland or scrub. The grasswrens are well camouflaged with black and brown patterns, but other species often have brilliantly coloured plumage, especially in the males.They are insectivorous
Insectivore
An insectivore is a type of carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures. An alternate term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of eating insects....
, typically foraging in underbrush. They build domed nests in areas of dense vegetation, and it is not unusual for the young to remain in the nest and assist in raising chicks from later clutches.
Fairywrens are notable for several peculiar behavioral characteristics. They are socially monogamous and sexually promiscuous, meaning that although they form pairs between one male and one female, each partner will mate with other individuals and even assist in raising the young from such pairings. Males of several species pluck petals of conspicuous colors and display them to females for reasons unknown.
The song of fairywrens is pleasant and complex, and at least two species (Superb and Splendid) possess, in addition to the alarm calls common to - and universally understood by - most small birds, another vocalization used when confronted by predators. This, termed "Type II Vocalization," is song-like and used when confronted by calling butcherbird
Butcherbird
Butcherbirds are magpie-like birds in the genus Cracticus. They are native to Australasia. Their closest relatives are the three species of currawong...
s, and sometimes other predatory birds. Its purpose is, however, unknown; it is certainly not a warning call.
Systematics
As with many other Australian creatures, and perhaps more than most, the species making up this family were comprehensively misunderstood by early researchers. They were variously classified as Old World flycatcherOld World flycatcher
The Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae is a large family of small passerine birds mostly restricted to the Old World. These are mainly small arboreal insectivores, many of which, as the name implies, take their prey on the wing.-Characteristics:...
s, Old World warbler
Old World warbler
The "Old World Warblers" is the name used to describe a large group of birds formerly grouped together in the bird family Sylviidae. The family held over 400 species in over 70 genera, and were the source of much taxonomic confusion. Two families were split out initially, the cisticolas into...
s, and Old World babbler
Old World babbler
The Old World babblers or timaliids are a large family of mostly Old World passerine birds. They are rather diverse in size and coloration, but are characterised by soft fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian Subcontinent...
s. In the late 1960s morphological studies began to suggest that the Australo-Papuan fairywrens, the grasswrens, emu-wren
Emu-wren
The emu-wrens are a genus of bird in the fairy-wren family Maluridae. They are found only in Australia where they inhabit scrub, heathland and grassland. They are small birds, 12–19 cm long with the tail accounting for over half of their length. The tail has only six feathers which are loose...
s and two monotypic wren-like genera from New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
were related and, following Charles Sibley
Charles Sibley
Charles Gald Sibley was an American ornithologist and molecular biologist. He had an immense influence on the scientific classification of birds, and the work that Sibley initiated has substantially altered our understanding of the evolutionary history of modern birds.Sibley's taxonomy has been a...
's pioneering work on egg-white proteins in the mid-1970s, Australian researchers introduced the family name Maluridae in 1975.
With further morphological work and the great strides made in DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
analysis towards the end of the 20th century, their position became clear: the Maluridae are one of the many families to have emerged from the great corvid radiation in Australasia. Their closest relatives are the Meliphagidae (honeyeater
Honeyeater
The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family of small to medium sized birds most common in Australia and New Guinea, but also found in New Zealand, the Pacific islands as far east as Samoa and Tonga, and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea known as Wallacea...
s), and the Pardalotidae. Their obvious similarity to the wrens of Europe and America is not genetic, but simply the consequence of convergent evolution
Convergent evolution
Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages.The wing is a classic example of convergent evolution in action. Although their last common ancestor did not have wings, both birds and bats do, and are capable of powered flight. The wings are...
between more-or-less unrelated species that share the same ecological niche.
Species
(part of the super-family MeliphagoideaMeliphagoidea
Meliphagoidea is a superfamily of passerine birds. They contain a vast diversity of small to mid-sized songbirds widespread in the Austropacific region. The Australian Continent has the largest richness in genera and species.-Systematics:...
)
- Subfamily: Malurinae
MalurusMalurus is a genus of bird in the Maluridae family.It contains the following species:* White-shouldered Fairywren * Lovely Fairywren * Purple-crowned Fairywren...
- Broad-billed Fairywren, Malurus (Chenorhamphus) grayi
- Lovely Fairywren, Malurus amabilis
- Variegated Fairywren, Malurus lamberti
- Blue-breasted Fairywren, Malurus pulcherrimus
- Red-winged Fairywren, Malurus elegans
- Superb Fairywren, Malurus cyaneus
- Splendid Fairywren, Malurus splendens
- Purple-crowned Fairywren, Malurus coronatus
- Red-backed Fairywren, Malurus melanocephalus
- White-winged Fairywren, Malurus leucopterus
- White-shouldered Fairywren, Malurus alboscapulatus
- Emperor Fairywren, Malurus cyanocephalus
- Genus Sipodotus
- Wallace's Fairywren, Sipodotus wallacii
- Genus: Clytomyias
- Orange-crowned Fairywren, Clytomyias insignis
- Genus Stipiturus
- Southern Emu-wrenSouthern Emu-wrenThe Southern Emu-wren is a species of bird in the Maluridae family. It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.-Taxonomy:...
, Stipiturus malachurus - Mallee Emu-wrenMallee Emu-wrenThe Mallee Emu-wren is a bird species in the family Maluridae. It is endemic to Australia.Its natural habitat is temperate grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.-Taxonomy:...
, Stipiturus mallee - Rufous-crowned Emu-wrenRufous-crowned Emu-wrenThe Rufous-crowned Emu-wren is a species of bird in the Maluridae family.It is endemic to Australia.-Taxonomy:...
, Stipiturus ruficeps
- Southern Emu-wren
Amytornis
Amytornis is a genus of birds in the Maluridae family.It contains the following species:* Grey Grasswren * White-throated Grasswren * Carpentarian Grasswren...
- Grey GrasswrenGrey GrasswrenThe Grey Grasswren is a species of bird in the Maluridae family.It is endemic to Australia.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on 25 July 2007....
, Amytornis barbatus - Black GrasswrenBlack GrasswrenThe Black Grasswren is a species of bird in the Maluridae family.It is endemic to Western Australia.Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation....
, Amytornis housei - White-throated GrasswrenWhite-throated GrasswrenThe White-throated Grasswren is a species of bird in the Maluridae family.It is endemic to Australia.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland and rocky areas.It is threatened by habitat loss....
, Amytornis woodwardi - Carpentarian GrasswrenCarpentarian GrasswrenThe Carpentarian Grasswren is a species of bird in the Maluridae family.It is endemic to Australia.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:...
, Amytornis dorotheae - Short-tailed GrasswrenShort-tailed GrasswrenThe Short-tailed Grasswren is a species of bird in the Maluridae family. It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitats are temperate shrubland and rocky areas.-References:...
, Amytornis merrotsyi - Striated GrasswrenStriated GrasswrenThe Striated Grasswren is a species of bird in the Maluridae family.It is endemic to Australia.-References:* BirdLife International 2006. . Downloaded on 25 July 2007....
, Amytornis striatus - Eyrean GrasswrenEyrean GrasswrenThe Eyrean Grasswren is a species of bird in the Maluridae family.It is endemic to Australia.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on 25 July 2007....
, Amytornis goyderi - Thick-billed GrasswrenThick-billed GrasswrenThe Thick-billed Grasswren is a species of bird in the Maluridae family.It is endemic to Australia.Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.-References:...
, Amytornis textilis - Dusky GrasswrenDusky GrasswrenThe Dusky Grasswren is a species of bird in the Maluridae family.It is endemic to Australia.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on 25 July 2007....
, Amytornis purnelli - Kalkadoon GrasswrenKalkadoon GrasswrenThe Kalkadoon Grasswren , also called the Ballara Grasswren, is a species of passerine bird in the family Maluridae. It is endemic to Australia.-Taxonomy:...
, Amytornis ballarae
External links
- Maluridae videos on the Internet Bird Collection
- Meliphagoidea - Highlighting relationships of Maluridae on Tree Of Life Web Project