Rufous-crowned Emu-wren
Encyclopedia
The Rufous-crowned Emu-wren (Stipiturus ruficeps) is a species of bird
in the Maluridae
family.
It is endemic to Australia
.
, more than a century after its relative the Southern Emu-wren
. Its species name is derived from the Latin
words rufus "red" and ceps "head". No subspecies are recognised, although birds from Western Australia may have redder plumage, and females more blue on the face and lores. It has been considered a subspecies of the Southern and Mallee Emu-wrens in the past; with anywhere from one to three species recognised. The common name of the genus is derived from the resemblance of their tails to the feathers of an Emu
.
The adult male has reddish upperparts with faint streaks, with a prominently rufous crown and grey-brown wings. It has a bright sky blue throat, upper chest, lores and ear coverts. The lores and ear coverts, and border chest are streaked with black. The tail is double the body length, and is composed of six filamentous feathers, the central two of which are longer than the lateral ones. The underparts are buff. The bill, feet and eyes are brown. The female resembles the male but lacks much of the blue plumage and redder crown. Its throat is a yellow buff, and it has some blue-tinged streaked ear coverts. Its bill is pale brown.
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
in the Maluridae
Maluridae
The Maluridae are a family of small, insectivorous passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea. Commonly known as wrens, they are unrelated to the true wrens of the Northern Hemisphere...
family.
It is endemic to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Taxonomy
The Rufous-crowned Emu-wren is one of three species of the genus Stipiturus, commonly known as emu-wrens, found across southern and central Australia. It was first described in 1899 by Archibald James CampbellArchibald James Campbell
Archibald James Campbell was an Australian civil servant in the Victorian, later the Australian federal, customs service, as well as an amateur ornithologist. He was one of the principal founders of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union in 1901 and served as its President in 1909 and 1928...
, more than a century after its relative the Southern Emu-wren
Southern Emu-wren
The Southern Emu-wren is a species of bird in the Maluridae family. It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation.-Taxonomy:...
. Its species name is derived from the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
words rufus "red" and ceps "head". No subspecies are recognised, although birds from Western Australia may have redder plumage, and females more blue on the face and lores. It has been considered a subspecies of the Southern and Mallee Emu-wrens in the past; with anywhere from one to three species recognised. The common name of the genus is derived from the resemblance of their tails to the feathers of an Emu
Emu
The Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. There are three subspecies of Emus in Australia...
.
Description
The Rufous-crowned Emu-wren is the smallest and most brightly coloured of the three emu wren species.The adult male has reddish upperparts with faint streaks, with a prominently rufous crown and grey-brown wings. It has a bright sky blue throat, upper chest, lores and ear coverts. The lores and ear coverts, and border chest are streaked with black. The tail is double the body length, and is composed of six filamentous feathers, the central two of which are longer than the lateral ones. The underparts are buff. The bill, feet and eyes are brown. The female resembles the male but lacks much of the blue plumage and redder crown. Its throat is a yellow buff, and it has some blue-tinged streaked ear coverts. Its bill is pale brown.
Distribution and habitat
The Rufous-crowned Emu-wren is found across the arid interior of northern central Australia, from the Simpson Desert in the southeast and Barkly Tableland in the northeast, across the centre to the Western Australian coast and the Pilbara in the northwest. There is an isolated population to the east in southwestern Queensland bounded by Dajarra, Winton, Fermoy and Boulia. It lives in spinifex shrubland.cited text
- BirdLife International 2004. Stipiturus ruficeps. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 27 July 2007.