Orange-crowned Fairywren
Clytomyias insignis
A rare bird of montane forest thickets, typically found actively foraging at the overgrown edges of clearings. Small and long-tailed with a rufous crown, pale underparts, a dull brown back and more rufous-brown wing feathers and tail, which it cocks. Vaguely similar to a fantail but none has the combination of rufous crown and pale underparts. Voice, a series of high-pitch chips and “seeep!” notes.
Identification
Unlike many other species of fairywren, there is no sexual dimorphism as the male and female have the same plumage. The head is a rusty orange colour, the thighs and tail rufous, the back olive brown and the wings brown. The bill is relatively broad compared with other fairywrens and is black in colour. The eyes are dark brown, and the legs pinkish brown. The two subspecies are distinguishable by their underparts, which are cream-white in C. i. insignis and more ochre-coloured in C.i. oorti.
Taxonomy
First collected in the Arfak Mountains, the orange-crowned fairywren was described by Richard Bowdler Sharpe in 1879. Molecular study indicates that it forms a clade with the fairywrens of the genus Malurus. Alternative names for the orange-crowned fairywren include orange-crowned wren, rufous fairywren, and rufous wren-warbler.<p>Two subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Clytomyias insignis
- Authority
- Sharpe, 1879
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Monarchidae
- Genus
- Clytomyias
Range and habitat
The orange-crowned fairywren is found in thick undergrowth of montane rainforest at an altitude of 2,000–3,000 m (6,600–9,800 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The orange-crowned fairywren is generally encountered in pairs or small groups of six to eight birds. Very little is known about its courtship behaviour or breeding.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Bald Parrot
Pyrilia aurantiocephala
A most remarkable parrot with an entirely bare orange head and nape. Note the bright orange shoulder patch and in flight the red underwings. Occurs in humid forests, including those on white-sand forests. In flight gives nasal, high-pitched “skee-skee-skee” notes.
Red-eared Firetail
Stagonopleura oculata
Plump, tiny, short-tailed bird, olive above, blackish with white-spotted belly below, with a bright red bill. Very dark between eyes and bill (lores), with a pale eyering and a tiny red patch behind the eye. Juvenile plain, similar to Beautiful Firetail of southeastern Australia. Red-browed Firetail (introduced in the Perth Hills) lacks marking below and lacks dark lores. Inhabits dense vegetation beside streams around in southwestern Western Australia.
Fire-bellied Woodpecker
Chloropicus pyrrhogaster
A large, long-billed woodpecker with an olive back, a red rump, a bold facial pattern, and heavily marked underparts with a bright red central belly stripe. The crown and back of the head are black in the female and red in males. Forages alone or in pairs, preferring dead tree trunks where it can excavate for beetle larvae and other insects in lowland rainforest, gallery forest, and plantations. Calls include a sharp “kwip,” a series of similar notes, and a fast whinnying call. Also gives a distinctive drum that lasts about 2 seconds, beginning fast and then slowing. Similar to Bearded and Yellow-crested Woodpeckers, but there is very little overlap in range, and those species lack the red belly patch.
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