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RUFOUS FANTAIL FACTS |
Description
The Rufous Fantail has a distinctive reddish brown rump and fan shaped tail. The head and shoulders is grey-brown, becoming reddish brown on the lower back, rump and upper tail. It has a reddish-brown eyebrow. The throat is white, and the chest is mottled black and white. The belly is white with reddish tinge. The wings are grey-brown and the tail feathers have red-brown bases, but are otherwise dark grey, tipped white. Young birds are similar, but duller. It is an active bird that flits about with its tail held in fan shape.
Size
16cm
Habitat
rainforest, dense wet forests, swamp woodlands and mangroves. Usually seen in dense shade near the ground.
Food
insects. Feeds in middle and lower layers of vegetation.
Breeding
Nest is a cup made of fine grass bound with spider webs. It is suspended from a tree fork about 5 m above the ground. The bottom of the nest is drawn out into a long stem like a wine glass. Lays 2-3 eggs.
Range
northern and eastern coastal Australia
Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Classification
| Class: | Aves | | Order: | Passeriformes | | Family: | Monarchidae | | Genus: | Rhipidura | | Species: | rufifrons | | Common Name: | Rufous Fantail |
Relatives in same Genus
Grey Fantail (R. albiscapa)
Willie Wagtail (R. leucophrys)
Northern Fantail (R. rufiventris)
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