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New Zealand Fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa)
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Maori name: Piwakawaka |
Length: 16 cm |
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Distribution:
Widespread throughout North, South and Stewart Islands, except for
treeless plains. Also Snares and Chathams. Australia. Black morph absent
from Snares and Chathams, rare in the North Island and about 13% of South
Island population. |
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Food: Almost
entirely insectivorous. |
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Voice: A
squeaky chattering song. Single 'cheet' contact call. |
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Breeding:
From August to February. Up to five broods. Cup-shaped nest with straggly
tail. Three to five white eggs freckled brown. Incubated by both adults
for about 15 days. Chicks fledge 12 to 14 days. |
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Sometimes called Grey Fantails
this species is also found in Australia, Norfolk Island, Vanuatu and the
Solomon Islands. Throughout New Zealand they are present in any area with
enough trees and shrubs to provide nesting cover and food and are absent
only from the large treeless plains east of the Southern Alps from
Marlborough to Otago. Being friendly, fearless and happily living in urban
areas, it is well known and loved by all New Zealanders. Particularly
endearing is its habit of entering houses in search of insects. However, in
earlier time this was considered a bad omen by the Maori because Fantails
had an association with death. Also, a restless man might be called 'the
tail of a fantail' and a small man nick-named 'Piwakawaka'.
From above the canopy to amongst seaweed on the beach, Fantails may be found
gathering prey. They are almost entirely insectivorous feeding on small
creatures almost always taken while in flight. Three feeding methods have
been described; hawking, where the Fantail flies out from a perch after
sighting an insect; flushing, where it uses its tail or whole body to
disturb insects from the vegetation or ground; and 'feeding associations',
where it moves with other species collecting insects as the flock
progresses.
Nesting commences in early August and up to five broods have been
successfully raised in one season, although three is normal. Most Fantails
nest at one year of age but occasionally a young male two to three months
old will successfully pair up with an adult female that has lost her mate.
Nests are cup-shaped, neatly constructed and with a straggly tail. They are
built of pieces of dry wood from rotting logs, grasses, cobwebs, moss and
wool. Sometimes partly completed nests are abandoned and new ones commenced
nearby. Usually both adults help with construction although in some cases
males have no assistance, especially but not always when chicks from a
previous brood are still being fed. Sometimes a nest is reused for the next
brood and occasionally a female will start building the new nest before the
chicks from the current nest have fledged. Earlier nests take up to two
weeks to build, later nests less than a week. Nests can be anywhere from one
metre to 24 metres above ground, and are often found in the vicinity of
water. A wide variety of shrubs and trees may be used but kawakawa is
commonly utilised. One nest I saw was on a loop of wire in a shed. Three to
five eggs are laid at daily intervals. They are white with small brownish
markings. Both adults incubate although in later nests females do most of
the work. After 13 to 16 days the chicks hatch. Both adults also care for
the young which fledge after 12 to 14 days. The parents feed them for up to
three or four weeks.
Very rarely a Long-tailed Cuckoo will parasitise a Fantail's nest.
The black morph of the Fantail comprises about 13% of the South Island
population but is much rarer in the North Island. Black and pied forms
freely interbreed. There are no Black Fantails on the Snares and Chathams |
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