Purple-backed Fairywren

Malurus assimilis ‡

Eagle Bluff Inlet, Peron Pen, W WA IMG_6056 20181004 - assimilis male. CLICK for a female, Bird Hide, Cape Range NP,
W WA 20180930.

Notes: Like East Coast Variegated Fairywren, w. long blue cocked tail. Male breeding: bright pale-
blue helmet, black breast & hindcollar, purple mantle, & chestnut shoulders. Male non-breeding:
like female but still w. black lores & bill. Nominate female assimilis brown above, white below w.
bold deep-rufous lores & eye-ring, markedly darker than pale-red bill. Female dulcis white eye-
ring, smoky-blue head & upperparts; rogersi similar but deep rufous eye-ring. In the arid inland.

Range from Morcombe & Stewart©(modified)
91km S of Birdsville, NE SA IMG_9645 20241002 - assimilis - male. CLICK for a pic of male in eclipse plumage. Butcher Trk, Muggon, WC WA IMG_6334 20181005 - assimilis - two female (pale-red bill, deep-rufous lores & eye-ring,
blue in tail). CLICK for a pic of one of them. Bough Shed Waterhole, Bladensburg NP, N Qld IMG_6803 20240918 - assimilis male showing purple mantle behind
black hindcollar. CLICK for another, Gunpowder Road, N of Mt Isa, NW Qld, 20200925. Bush Camp, Opalton N Qld IMG_7074 20240919 - assimilis female CLICK for another at Lark Quarry,
N Qld 20240921. Mt Ive Station, SE SA IMG_4756 20181129 - assimilis male partial eclipse plumage. CLICK for another at Lark Quarry,
SW Qld 20180602 more towards eclipse plumage. Boolcoomatta, E SA IMG_5798 20160526 - assimilis male non-breeding. CLICK for another at Karumba, NW Qld 20170820 Cuttaburra Crossing, SC Qld IMG_6060 20200920 - assimilis juvenile: like adult female, even darker lores & eye-ring, tail
concolorous w. wings. CLICK for another pic. Gunlom, Kakadu NP, N NT IMG_2579 20180723 - dulcis male & female Gunlom, Kakadu NP, N NT IMG_2578 20180723 - dulcis female. CLICK for another. Barnett Gorge, Gibb River Rd, N WA IMG_9523 20180825 - rogersi female: deep rufous eye-ring. CLICK for male. Mount Ive Station, SC SA MVI_4687+4691 20181129 - assimilis male Gunpowder Road, N of Mt Isa, NW Qld IMG_6701 20200925 - assimilis male with a bug. Hamelin Pool, Shark Bay, W WA MVI_5985 20181003 - assimilis female