White-shouldered Fairywren

White-shouldered Fairywren
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Maluridae
Genus:	Malurus
Species:	M. alboscapulatus
Binomial name
Malurus alboscapulatus Meyer, 1874

The White-shouldered Fairywren (Malurus alboscapulatus) is a species of bird in the family Maluridae. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

It was first described by the German naturalist Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer in 1874. Its species name is derived from the Latin words albus "white" and scapulae "shoulder-blades".^[1]

Within Maluridae, it is one of 12 species in the genus, Malurus. It is most closely related to a pair of Australian species, the Red-backed and White-winged Fairywrens, with which it makes up a phylogenetic clade.^[2] Termed the bicoloured wrens by ornithologist Richard Schodde, these three species are notable for their lack of head patterns and ear tufts and their uniform black or blue plumage with contrasting shoulder or wing colour; they replace each other geographically across northern Australia and New Guinea.^[3]

Six geographically isolated subspecies are recognised, found across the island of New Guinea. They are differentiated by the differences in female plumage, the males of all six are indistinguishable.^[4] The nominate subspecies is found on the Bird's Head Peninsula to the far west of the island, subspecies aida is found in northeastern Irian Jaya, subspecies lorentzi is found in southern Irian Jaya and the TransFly region of southwestern Papua New Guinea, subspecies naimii is found in central-northern Papua New Guinea, subspecies kutubu restricted to the highlands, and subspecies moretoni in the far east of the island.^[5]

The adult male in breeding plumage is all shiny black but for a white shoulders (scapulars). The tail is shorter than other fairywrens. The bill is black, and the feet and eyes are black or dark brown.^[4] The female of subspecies alboscapulatus and naimii bears a pied plumage, with black upperparts, white shoulders and underparts.

The preferred habitats are lowland cleared areas; grassland, village gardens, and cane-grass.^[6]

References

1. ^ Simpson, D.P. (1979). Cassell's Latin Dictionary (5 ed.). London: Cassell Ltd.. pp. 33, 537. ISBN 0-304-52257-0. 
2. ^ Christidis L, Schodde R. 1997, "Relationships within the Australo-Papuan Fairywrens (Aves: Malurinae): an evaluation of the utility of allozyme data". Australian Journal of Zoology, 45 (2): 113–129.
3. ^ Schodde (1982), p. 31
4. ^ ^{a b} Rowley & Russell, p. 185.
5. ^ Rowley & Russell, p. 188.
6. ^ Rowley & Russell, p. 187.

Cited texts

• Rowley, Ian; Russell, Eleanor (1997). Bird Families of the World: Fairywrens and Grasswrens. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-854690-4. 
• Schodde, Richard (1982). The fairywrens: a monograph of the Maluridae.. Melbourne: Lansdowne Editions. ISBN 0-7018-1051-3. 
• BirdLife International 2004. Malurus alboscapulatus.2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 26 July 2007.