Audio / Video

click photos for clips.

Fantail

Piwakawaka

Rhipidura fuliginosa

Dark above body, lighter below. White "eyebrows" and under chin band. White shafts in the tail. Females smaller and duller than males. The black phase is entirely black and not common. The books say 10 to 25 % are black, our experience on Stewart Island is probably no more the 5 to 6%

More often seen in winter or in very bad weather when they come down to lower levels.

Fantails often appear to be friendly, hovering and flitting about us as we move through the forest. They are in fact more interested in the insects we disturb. In the winter they will move down to lower altitudes and it's not unusual to see flocks of 2 or 3 dozen birds flitting about.

We often find them feeding with flocks of Grey Warblers, Brown Creepers or Yellowhead. These disturb insects amongst the leaves, which are then targeted by the opportunistic Fantails.

Their Maori name means "Dancing Canoe" which really does describe them perfectly

Size 180 mm


Fantail The single "squeek" call
Fantail We usually hear this call when a bird is actively feeding
Feeding on Beach We often find them feeding on beach insects
Active Fantails never sit still, always bobbing around on whatever they perch on.
Flight For me they are almost impossible to film in flight. Their huge tail gives them the agility to take insects on the wing, but makes them impossible to track by camera.