Meet The Incredible White-Winged Fairywren Bird

Younger sexually mature males are almost indistinguishable from females and are often the breeding males. A troop of White-winged Fairywrens in spring and summer has a brightly colored older male accompanied by small, inconspicuous brown birds, many of which are also male. Three subspecies are recognized. Apart from the mainland subspecies, one is found on Dirk Hartog Island, and another on Barrow Island off the coast of Western Australia. Males from these islands have black rather than blue breeding plumage.