Purple-backed Fairywren (Malurus assimilis) | Details

Purple-backed Fairywren Malurus assimilis

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic note
Malurus lamberti has been split into Variegated Fairy-wren M. lamberti (monotypic) and Purple-backed Fairy-wren M. assimilis (with races rogersi, dulcis and bernieri) following the proposal by McLean et al. (2017) upon finding that the two forms occur in close proximity with very little hybridisation along the Great Dividing Range. Using information from the paper, it appears that M. lamberti separates from M. assimilis and other subspecies by its; much paler, brighter shade of (different) blues on crown, ear-coverts and mantle (score = 3); extensive fawn-grey vs reduced fawn-grey to pale cinnamon flanks (1); longer tail (no raw data given, but at least 1); and either parapatric distribution (score 3) or very narrow hybrid zone (2; latter preferred on the evidence provided).

Taxonomic source(s)
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2019. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 4. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v4_Dec19.zip.
McLean, A. J., Toon, A., Schmidt, D. J., Hughes, J. M., & Joseph, L. 2017. Phylogeography and geno-phenotypic discordance in a widespread Australian bird, the Variegated Fairy-wren, Malurus lamberti (Aves: Maluridae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 121(3): 655-669.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2019	Least Concern
2016	Not Recognised
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Species attributes

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	unset
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	7,710,000 km²
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	stable	-	suspected	-
Generation length	8.3 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is reported to be locally fairly common (Flegg and Madge 1995).

Trend justification: There is no trend information for this species, however it is suspected to be stable.

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Australia	extant	native	yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Shrubland	Mediterranean-type Shrubby Vegetation	major	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Purple-backed Fairywren Malurus assimilis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/purple-backed-fairywren-malurus-assimilis on 22/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/12/2024.