#1316 · 🐦 birds
Superb Fairywren
🇳🇱 Ornaatelfje ·Malurus cyaneus
📍 Queensland, AU
📍 Woodlands Historic Park, Greenvale VIC 3059, Australia
📍 Melbourne VIC, Australia
📍 Ventnor VIC 3922, Australia
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Emily Sonter · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Emily Sonter · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © Tamara Leitch · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 4. © lightroom · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © Daniel · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © Bird Explorers · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. Queensland, AU:© QuestaGame · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 8. Woodlands Historic Park, Greenvale VIC 3059, Australia:© upupamartin · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 9. Melbourne VIC, Australia:© Thomas Jaeger · CC BY 4.0
- 10. Ventnor VIC 3922, Australia:© Ron Greer · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The superb fairywren ( Malurus cyaneus ) is a passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae, and is common and familiar across south-eastern Australia. The species is sedentary and territorial, also exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism; the male in breeding plumage has a striking bright blue forehead, ear coverts, mantle, and tail, with a black mask and black or dark blue throat. Non-breeding males, females and juveniles are predominantly grey-brown in colour; this gave the...
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 45,520 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by William Wade Ellis in 1782 (244 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Superb Fairywren
- Nederlands
- Ornaatelfje
- scientific name
- Malurus cyaneus
- class
- Aves
- order
- Passeriformes
- family
- Maluridae
- IUCN Red List
- LC · least concern
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings worldwide
- 45,520
- GBIF records in NL
- 0
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1782 by William Wade Ellis
IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 12065, Wikidata Q420813, GBIF 2487516, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.