Superb Fairywren
Song & Calls

The Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus) is a tiny songbird found in a variety of habitats in south-eastern Australia. The male Superb Fairy-wren has stunning rich velvet blue and black upperparts and throat when in breeding plumage, while females and non-breeding males are primarily a mouse-brown . This species is sometimes referred to colloquially as the ‘blue wren’, and females are sometimes called ‘jenny wrens’.

The song of the Superb Fairy-wren is a fast, high-pitched reeling series of notes and is given by both males and females. They are a vocal species and make a range of other calls including high-pitched ‘seep’ contact calls and trills.

Recent studies found Superb Fairywren embryos exhibit remarkable pre-natal learning abilities. While still in the egg, the chicks learn a vocal password that has been taught to them by the attending female during incubation. They then incorporate the learnt vocal element into their own begging call after hatching to solicit parental feeding.