Adult survivorship was heavily influenced by intense grazing resulting in a 74% loss of adult birds within one year in addition to a significant reduction in group size. One of the primary disturbances investigated during my study was cattle grazing.
Overall, the mean number of fledglings produced by a breeding female was 1.07 per year. A high nest predation rate of at least 51% was found during my study, with most predation events occurring at the egg stage.
Incubation was estimated at approximately 14 days and the nestling period 10 days. The average clutch size was 2.9 with 88% of clutches consisting of three eggs. The majority of nests (85%) were located in river grass with an average nest entrance height of 40.1cm. My study found purple-crowned fairy-wrens had a long breeding season of 22 weeks, the start of which coincided with the end of the wet season with a peak in May. Purple-crowned fairy-wrens often foraged in loose family groups, usually within 2 meters of the ground, and favored river grass and freshwater mangrove (Barringtonia acutangula) as foraging substrates. The average group size was 2.6, and although groups comprising a single breeding male and female were the most common (50%), groups with a single additional helper 13 were also common (41%). Territories are best described as polygons with an average size of 0.41ha. Purple-crowed fairy-wrens live in small family groups and groups often remained in the same territory for consecutive years. This habitat association is in contrast to the single previous study, where the purple-crowned fairy-wren was primarily dependent on the aquatic pandanus (Pandanus aquaticus). The results from my study show that, in the Victoria River District, the purple-crowned fairy-wren is highly dependent on Chionachne for cover, foraging and breeding and was not found in any other dominant vegetation. Along the Victoria River, the purple-crowned fairy-wren inhabits stands of canegrass or river grass (Chionachne cyathopoda). coronatus, is a threatened species with a fragmented distribution attributed to habitat loss and degradation. Its range extends from the Kimberley in Western Australia east to the Victoria River District in the Northern Territory. The purple-crowned fairy-wren (Malurus coronatus coronatus) is a small endemic habitat specialist restricted to riparian vegetation in northern Australia. n.d., Ecology and conservation of the purple-crowned fairy-wren (Malurus coronatus coronatus) in the Northern Territory, Australia Wikipedia Citationīroken link? let us search Trove, the Wayback Machine or Google for you. Van Doorn, Annamaria. & University of Florida. Ecology and conservation of the purple-crowned fairy-wren (Malurus coronatus coronatus) in the Northern Territory, Australia Australian/Harvard Citation Van Doorn, Annamaria. and University of Florida. Ecology and conservation of the purple-crowned fairy-wren (Malurus coronatus coronatus) in the Northern Territory, Australia.