Priority species
EPBC Endangered (EN)
Southern Emu-wren
Stipiturus malachurus
The Southern Emu-wren is one of Australia’s smallest birds. A fully-grown emu-wren may reach 19 centimetres long, but its elongated tail feathers comprise about two-thirds of this, making the bird’s body a mere 6 centimetres or so long.
The bird gets its name from its tail feathers, which look rather similar to the feathers of an emu; the emu-wren’s name seems a little incongruous because the emu, standing up to 1.9 metres tall (over ten times larger than the wren), is one of Australia’s largest birds.
The Southern Emu-wren is a tiny bird with a long (10 cm) filamentous tail, made up of six feathers, which is usually held upright. Male birds are grey-brown streaked black above, warm tawny brown below, with a distinctive blue chin and throat and some blue around the eyes. Females are similar but lack the blue colouration.
Soft reedy chirp: ‘prip prip’; males have short descending song like fairy-wrens but higher-pitched.
Bird call recorded by: Fred Van Gessel
The Southern Emu-wren is found along the east coast of Australia from south-eastern Queensland through to Tasmania and west to south-eastern South Australia. It is also found along the coast of Western Australia from Shark Bay to Israelite Bay and inland to Norseman.
The Southern Emu-wren is found in a variety of moist dense scrublands, heaths with grass trees, coastal heathlands, tea-tree vegetation, and, in Western Australia, in low scrub and dune vegetation on sandhills.
Emu-wrens are named for their six wispy, emu-like tail feathers.
Distribution map
This species is shy and has a weak flight, preferring to spend most of its time low in dense cover and will run like a mouse, with its tail down.
The Southern Emu-wren eats insects and spiders gleaned from within thick foliage, rarely appearing on the ground or above the shrub canopy. Foraging parties of up to 40 birds may form outside the breeding season.
The Southern Emu-wren breeds in pairs, with the male defending a small territory with regular bursts of song. The female builds an oval-shaped dome nest with a round entrance at the side. It is made from and lined with grasses and placed near the ground in a grass tussock or dense shrubbery. The female incubates the eggs and both parents feed the young, which remain with them for up to two months after fledging.
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Facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
EPBC status reflects the conservation status of this species under Australian environmental legislation.
IUCN status reflects the conservation status of this species globally.
Habitat destruction
