Red-backed Fairywren - Behaviour

Behaviour

The Red-backed Fairywren is diurnal, and becomes active at dawn and again, in bursts, throughout the day. When not foraging, birds often shelter together. They roost side-by-side in dense cover as well and engage in mutual preening. The usual form of locomotion is hopping, with both feet leaving the ground and landing simultaneously. However, a bird may run when performing the rodent-run display. Its balance is assisted by a relatively long tail, which is usually held upright and is rarely still. The short, rounded wings provide good initial lift and are useful for short flights, though not for extended jaunts. Birds generally fly in a series of undulations for a maximum of 20 or 30 m (60–100 ft)

In dry tall grasslands in monsoonal areas, the change in vegetation may be so great due to either fires or wet season growth that birds may be more nomadic and change territories more than other fairywrens. They form more stable territories elsewhere, such as in coastal areas. Cooperative breeding is less common with this species than with other fairywrens; helper birds have been sporadically reported, but the Red-backed Fairywren has been little studied.

Both the male and female adult Red-backed Fairywren may utilise the rodent-run display to distract predators from nests with young birds. The head, neck and tail are lowered, the wings are held out and the feathers are fluffed as the bird runs rapidly and voices a continuous alarm call.