White-winged Fairywren - Behaviour

Behaviour

The usual form of locomotion is hopping, with both feet leaving the ground and landing simultaneously. However, birds may run when performing the rodent-run display. Its balance is assisted by a proportionally large tail, which is usually held upright and rarely still. The short, rounded wings provide good initial lift and are useful for short flights, though not for extended jaunts.

White-winged Fairywrens live in complex social groups. Clans consist of 2–4 birds, typically one brown or partially blue male and a breeding female. Nest helpers are birds raised in previous years which remain with the family group after fledging and assist in raising young; they may be male that have retained their brown plumage, or female. Birds in a group roost side-by-side in dense cover and engage in mutual preening. Several subgroups live within one territory and make up a clan, which is presided over by one blue (or black) male who assumes breeding plumage. While the blue male is dominant to the rest of the brown and partially blue males within his clan, he nests with only one female and contributes to the raising of only her young. It is unclear whether or not he fathers young in any of the other nests within his territory.

Each clan has a specified area of land that all members contribute to foraging from and defending. Frequently, territory sizes, normally 4–6 ha (10–15 acres), are correlated with the abundance of rain and resources in a region; smaller territories occur where insects and resources are plentiful. Additionally, the feeding territories are larger during the winter months when these birds spend much of their time foraging with the entire clan. White-winged Fairywrens occupy much larger territories than other fairywren species.

Observed in this species, the wing-fluttering display is seen in several situations: females responding, and presumably acquiescing, to male courtship displays, juveniles begging for food, by helpers to older birds, and immature males to senior ones. The fairywren lowers its head and tail, outstretches and quivers its wings and holds its beak open silently.

Both the male and female adult White-winged Fairywren may utilise a 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.