NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Variegated Fairywren
Malurus lamberti Vigors & Horsfield, 1827
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The variegated fairywren (Malurus lamberti) is a fairywren that lives in eastern Australia. As a species that exhibits sexual dimorphism, the brightly coloured breeding male has chestnut shoulders and azure crown and ear coverts, while non-breeding males, females and juveniles have predominantly grey-brown plumage, although females of two subspecies have mainly blue-grey plumage.
Like other fairywrens, the variegated fairywren is a cooperative breeding species, with small groups of birds maintaining and defending small territories year-round. Groups consist of a socially monogamous pair with several helper birds who assist in raising the young. Male wrens pluck yellow petals and display them to females as part of a courtship display. These birds are primarily insectivorous and forage and live in the shelter of scrubby vegetation east of the Great Dividing Range. Populations across central, northern and western Australia were considered subspecies of this species until 2018, when they were reclassified as the purple-backed fairywren.
Wikipedia contributors, Variegated fairywren; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:45:12.918998+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Malurus lamberti Vigors & Horsfield, 1827
- Name authority
- Vigors & Horsfield, 1827
- Common name
- Variegated Fairywren
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Maluridae
- Genus
- Malurus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyMaluridae
- genusMalurus Vieillot, 1816
- speciesMalurus lamberti Vigors & Horsfield, 1827
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Malurus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Superb FairywrenMalurus cyaneus (Ellis, 1782) | MaluridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Purple-crowned FairywrenMalurus coronatus Gould, 1858 | MaluridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Blue-breasted FairywrenMalurus pulcherrimus Gould, 1844 | MaluridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Red-winged FairywrenMalurus elegans Gould, 1837 | MaluridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-winged FairywrenMalurus leucopterus Quoy & Gaimard, 1824 | MaluridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Malurus lamberti lamberti Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Vigors, Nicholas Aylward, & and Thomas Horsfield. (1827). A Description of the Australian Birds in the Collection of the Linnean Society; with an Attempt at arranging them according to their natural Affinities. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Vol. 15. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:72T8Z. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.