Image of Rhipidura fuliginosa fuliginosa (Sparrman 1787)

Description:

The site has very low human population/disturbance except for the obvious lawn maintenance. The specific location where the fantail was observed it underneath dense, woody brush that is not maintained. This area is constantly shaded with very little dappled light throughout. The plant species consisted of Sophora tetraptera, and two unknown species of dense shrub. The fantail kept, almost entirely, to this area. The fantail was not shy and would come close to me as I was sitting there. It was observed that it was eating the bugs that were flying around me. This was the only time the fantail would leave the dense understory of the shrubs. It can also be observed that this understory was the location of its nest. I believe only one fantail was observed, allowing me to assume that one sex hunts while the other is less active.The fantail was quite slow compared to the other birds I observed, and hopped from branch to branch more than it flew. I also observed that the fanned tail may help the bird to balance and possibly disturb the insects around it when it is hunting.It was determined that this species has an insect based diet.