By Tony Castro, CC BY-SA 4.0
Etymology: Guardian of the Mountains
First Described By: North, 1905
Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Inopinaves, Telluraves, Australaves, Eufalconimorphae, Psittacopasserae, Passeriformes, Eupasseres, Passeri, Euoscines, Meliphagides, Acanthizidae
Status: Extant, Least Concern
Time and Place: Within the last 10,000 years, in the Holocene of the Quaternary
The Fernwren is known from the Eastern coast of the horn of Queensland, Australia
Physical Description: The Fernwren is a small songbird, ranging between 12 and 14 centimeters in length, and like many animals called “wren” it had a small, round body, and a short tail. It’s head is also quite small, and it has a long, sharp beak. It had dark brown feathers over its back, wings, and tail; and medium brown feathers on its belly and butt. The Fernwren has very distinctive patterning on its head, however – black stripes with speckles over the eye, white patches everywhere else, and black splotches closer to the belly, that make its head very distinctive at a distance. The species does not differ based on sex.
Diet: The Fernwren primarily eats a variety of meat, especially larger insects and smaller lizards, such as skinks.
Behavior: The Fernwren hunts for food either alone, or in mated pairs; they are fairly quiet and invisible in their dense habitat, moving silently among the leave litter and on lower branches. They’ll even bury themselves in the leaves to ambush food. They glean, scratch, and probe the dirt for food, and even hunt near other birds like the Orange-Footed Scrubfowl to catch what they dig up while they feed. Though they are quiet while feeding, the Fernwren will usually sing only in the breeding season – making twee-twee-twee calls to attract mates, though they’ll also make chip-chip calls to contact each other, and also make very loud rasping alarm calls when danger is present.
By Tim, CC BY 2.0
The Fernwren breeds starting in July all the way through February, but mainly nest from October through November. They maintain their nesting territory all year, but make the most amount of sound during the breeding season. Both parents build nests out of moss, roots, sticks, leaves, and lichen, using these materials to form a dome shape near the ground – usually hidden in a hole or fern clump amongst rotting vegetation. They lay two eggs that are white, with red-brown spots; the female incubates the eggs for about a month, and the chicks are then fed for another month by both parents. The birds then stay near where they hatched for their entire lives.
Ecosystem: The Fernwren lives mainly in wet tropical forests, especially very damp and shady gulleys and gorges with a lot of ferns, vines, and thickets. They are usually find at higher elevations, and rarely found at lower ones in drier areas.
Other: This bird is not threatened with extinction, though its restricted range does mean it’s at risk, and its uncommon nature means it’s difficult to assess the risk level of the Fairywren.
~ By Meig Dickson
Sources
Gregory, P. (2019). Fernwren (Oreoscopus gutturalis). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
Jobling, J. A. 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. Christopher Helm Publishing, A&C Black Publishers Ltd, London.
A Dinosaur A Day 