Photo © by Joseph Morlan
Kuto Bay, Isle of Pines, New Caledonia, 23 September 2019
Photo © by peterday
Cox Scrub Conservation Park, South Australia, December 2020
Alternative name: Gray Fantail
- Rhipidura albiscapa
Identification
14–17 cm (5½-6¾)
- Sooty-gray upperparts
- Black breast band
- White throat
- Short narrow white supercilium and ear-covert streak
- Pale tail fringes
- Buff underparts
Juvenile is duller with buffy wash.
Distribution
Australia, Tasmania, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, Solomon Islands.
Taxonomy
Sometimes considered conspecific with New Zealand Fantail and/or the Mangrove Fantail. The three form a superspecies.
Subspecies
There are 8 subspecies[1]:
- R. a. bulgeri:
- New Caledonia and Lifou Island
- R. a. brenchleyi:
- Vanuatu and Banks Islands; San Cristóbal (souther Solomon Islands)
- R. a. keasti:
- North-eastern Queensland (Cooktown to Clarke Range)
- R. a. pelzelni:
- Norfolk Island
- R. a. alisteri:
- South-central Queensland to southern Victoria and Eyre Peninsula, South Australia
- R. a. albiscapa:
- Tasmania, King and Flinders Islands (Bass Strait); winters to north
- R. a. preissi:
- South-west Western Australia; winters to north
- R. a. albicauda:
- Interior of south-central Western Australia and southern Northern Territory
Habitat
Occasionally visits densely-planted urban gardens, particularly during the winter migration. Often makes use of eucalypt trees.
Behaviour
Diet
Includes insects, usually flying ones; particularly beetles, flies, bees, wasps, and ants.
Breeding
They build a compact, cup-shaped nest, usually situated in the fork of a tree. It is constructed out of moss, bark and fibre, and often completed with spider's web. They usually lay three or four cream eggs spotted grey and brown.
Vocalisation
Song is a simple ascending series of pure notes notes ending with a slight flourish. Both sexes sing, female less than male; may sing on nest. Call consists of sharp, metallic nasal notes, often repeated as a chattering.
Movements
Migratory, nomadic or sedentary in different parts of range.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Boles, W. (2019). Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa). 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. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/59145 on 7 December 2019).
- Dutson, G. (2011) Birds of Melanesia, Christopher Helm, London.
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Grey Fantail. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 19 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Grey_Fantail
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
