White-winged Fairy-wrens

White-winged Fairy-wrens live in the harshest places. Their range covers a large area of inland Australia which largely coincides with arid Australia (1) and within this area they occupy habitat that is mostly devoid of trees and small shrubs. While the Variegated and Splendid Fairy-wren’s ranges also cover a large area of arid Australia these two species prefer habitat with good tree and shrub cover. 

I particularly admire the resilience of White-winged Fairy-wrens and their adaption to some of Australia’s harshest environments. 

The following photos were captured on a recent trip to south-west Queensland and north-west NSW. They include a mature male in full breeding plumage, a young male just starting to moult to adult plumage and develop the adult male black bill and a female with an orange-buff bill which is darker at the tip.

Please click on photos to enlarge.

This adult male in full breeding plumage needs no introduction.

The female White-winged Fairy-wren – note the bill colour. There is some blue in the tail otherwise she is all brown.

Juvenile male – note some white feathers emerging on the wing and dark patches on the bill.

Female and juvenile male together. The juvenile male is on the left.

Note (1) 

The arid area of inland Australia can be defined by the ratio of the average annual rainfall divided by the average annual evaporation being less than or equal to 0.4. The arid area encompasses all of Australia’s deserts.

Note (2) for the photographers 

The very high contrast between the adult male’s intensely vivid and almost metallic blue plumage and dark eyes and the pure white feathers on their wings makes exposure a challenge. Full sun during the middle of the day is very harsh adding to the exposure  challenge. So overcast conditions with high cloud and diffuse light, or some shade – which is mostly not available given the bird’s habitat preference - or early or late in the day can help with achieving a balanced exposure.