Everything You Need To Know About Malurus leucopterus White-winged Fairywren

The white-winged fairywren (Malurus leucopterus) is a small passerine bird native to Australia. Australia’s fairy-wrens have the reputation of being brightly coloured, and the White-winged Fairy-wren is one of the most striking.

The adult male in its striking, breeding plumage is either dark blue or glossy black with white shoulder patches, and it has a mid to dark blue tail. The glossy black plumage is found on the subspecies edouardi, found only on Dirk Hartog and Barrow Islands off Western Australia, while the dark blue is found on the mainland subspecies, leuconotus. The adult female has a drab grey-brown crown, back and wings, grey tail faintly washed blue. She is whitish below and her flanks and lower underparts are washed dull buff. Immature birds are like the female. The male does not obtain full plumage until its fourth year. This species is also called the Black-and-White, Blue-and-White or White-backed Fairy-wren; or the Pied, White-backed or White-winged Wren.