Splendid fairy wren 1979

Malurus splendens, male. Bird House, indoor aviary (now demolished), London ZSL, 11th March 1979.
This little chap was probably the most vividly coloured creature that I have ever seen. On my monitor, the colours of this image accurately reproduce the colours of my original Kodachrome slide. As I used flash, I am confident that the slide reproduced his colours properly too.

Alan

My aim is to make everyone who has never seen this species jealous
There were superb fairy wrens in the exhibit next door, but the male was dull by comparison (only the head is blue, so they are just superb rather than splendid).

Could it be that I saw the same bird around 1984 at London - was it still alive ?
I also think I remember I saw a breeding-note on this ( or an other fairy-wren species ? ) at London, anybody with more info ?
BTW : Beautifull picture of a beautifull bird !

You lucky bustard! XD Fairy wrens are difficult to keep captive as they need alive very small insects (like fruitflies). Would love to see an alive one any day, but it's unlikely that european zoos import them again...
Yes, Chli, the red-backed are nice but I always liked more the purple-crowned.

Possibly. I have got some more photos of the little chap, so I'll check the dates next time I search through my slide boxes. Or maybe one of our London-based ZooChatters knows more than I do.

Most zoos now breed lots of small insects for rearing fishes, amphibia and reptiles, so supplying small birds with fruitflies (or aphids, springtails, firebrats etc) should not be too difficult. But it might be hard to get the birds from Australia.

Alan

I have 4 more photos of this bird. Two from the same day as this one, August '79, one from March '79 and one from September '76. I didn't visit London so often in the 1980s and I don't think I have any more.

Alan

Wow! What an amazing bird. Really enjoying your photos from the past, Alan. It's a shame that a lot of the species you are posting are no longer in UK collections.