- Rhipidura rennelliana
Identification
14-15 cm. A dark fantail.
- Drab brownish-grey crown and side
- Obscure short broad supraloral spot
- Back lighter and browner than crown, blackish-brown uppertail-coverts
- Blackish-brown tail, outer web of outermost feather pair white
- Off-white chin and upper throat, mottled light grey
- Smoky grey lower throat and side
- Breast feathers with greyish-brown centres and buff edges
- Buff middle of belly with grey feather bases
- Whitish or greyish-buff undertail-coverts
- Smoke-grey thighs
Sexes similar, juveniles also similar but edges of wing-coverts rusty, underside deeper buff and more cinnamon-tinged.
Distribution
Endemic to Rennell Island in southern Solomon Islands.
Very common in its small range.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
Forms a superspecies with Samoan Fantail, Kadavu Fantail, New Caledonian Streaked Fantail, Vanuatu Streaked Fantail, Fiji Streaked Fantail, Dusky Fantail, Bougainville Fantail and Guadalcanal Fantail.
Habitat
Moist lowland forests, forest edge, sometimes in scrubby second growth. Avoids open areas.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on insects. Forages in understorey and undergrowth. Flushes insects by its active behaviour. Often in mixed-species feeding flocks.
Breeding
Recently fledged birds recorded in September. The nest is a small cup made of Pandanus fibres. It's placed 0.6 to 1 m above the ground, built around a branch or in a low bush.
Movements
This is a resident species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved July 2014)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Rennell Fantail. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Rennell_Fantail
