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21

Arafura Fantail (Rhipidura dryas) Alternate name(s): "Wood Fantail" Size: 16 cm; wing span 21 cm Weight: 7-10 g

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Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Arafura Fantails are small fantails. They have a white throat patch that extends sideways to under the ear coverts. The upper chest is black, continuing downwards in black and light-grey scales. The belly and undertail coverts are light-grey. The frons and eyebrows are orange-rufous; the cap and mantle are rufous-grey. They have thin whitish eye-rings. The rump and upper quarter of the uppertail are orange-rufous, while the lower three quarters of the tail are dark-grey, with a white terminal band that is widest on the outermost tail feathers. The wings are dark-brown. The eyes have dark irises. The bill is black; the legs and feet are dark-grey. Juveniles have duller, browner colours. Twitcher's tip Compared with Rufous Fantails, they have duller colours and less rufous on their tail.

Taxonomy, classification See Arafura Fantail at Wikipedia . Click here for classification information Arafura Fantails are no longer considered to be a race of the Rufous Fantail (Rhipidura rufifrons).

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Arafura Fantail is available HERE . Arafura Fantails are found in eastern Indonesia, Timor Leste, parts of New Guinea and the tropical North of Australia. The range of the Arafura Fantail in Australia extends from the western side of Cape York peninsula, all across the northern coastal fringe, including almost all of the Top End of the NT, and up to the North coast of the Kimberley in WA, up to Eighty Mile Beach. They also live on some offshore islands. Arafura Fantails can be found primarily in rainforest or wet gullies in dense forest.

Sightings Click here for sighting information B. Hensen reports spotting an Arafura Fantail at Lee Point, Darwin, NT, in August 2012. Another bird was spotted by B. Hensen at Fogg Dam CR, NT, in August 2013. Since then Arafura Fantails have been spotted occaionally in various locations in and around Darwin, NT. We first spotted an Arafura Fantail in the township of Adelaide River, NT, in August 2014. H. Mouritsen reports spotting one Arafura Fantail each at Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve and Kakadu NP, NT, in October 2015. Several contributors report spotting Arafura Fantails occasionally in various locations in the Top End of the NT.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of an Arafura Fantail (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Charles Darwin NP, Darwin, NT, December 2019]

Frontal view of an Arafura Fantail (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fannie Bay, Darwin, NT, July 2019]

Near-frontal view of an Arafura Fantail (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, August 2018]

Near-frontal view of an Arafura Fantail (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mary River Wilderness Retreat, NT, July 2020]

Near-frontal/ventral view of an Arafura Fantail (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Fogg Dam CR, NT, August 2013]

Lateral view of an Arafura Fantail (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, August 2018]

Lateral view of an Arafura Fantail (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Charles Darwin NP, Darwin, NT, December 2019]

Lateral view of an Arafura Fantail, with its tail fanned characteristically (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Lee Point, Darwin, NT, August 2012]

Lateral/ventral view of an Arafura Fantail (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Sewage Treatment Plant, Katherine, NT, July 2020]

Near-dorsal view of an Arafura Fantail, with its tail fanned characteristically (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fogg Dam CR, NT, May 2018]

Ventral view of an Arafura Fantail; this is the bird whose calls were recorded on 11 June 2018
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, June 2018]

Behaviour

Arafura Fantails "earn their name" by fanning their tail frequently, with a display of the extended white tips on both undertail and uppertail.

Frontal view of an Arafura Fantail fanning its tail (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Lee Point, Darwin, NT, July 2019]

Near-dorsal view of an Arafura Fantail fanning its tail (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Lee Point, Darwin, NT, July 2019]

Lateral/ventral view of an Arafura Fantail showing that even when the tail is folded the display of white is impressive
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Lee Point, Darwin, NT, July 2019]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

arafant_pb_20180606_1.m4a	(Top End, NT)	Contact calls(?)	© PB
arafant_pb_20180606_2.m4a	(Top End, NT)	Contact calls(?)	© PB
arafant_pb_20210521.m4a	(Top End, NT)	Contact calls(?) long sequence	© PB
arafant_pb_20230509_2.mp3	(Top End, NT)	Contact calls(?), adult + immature	© PB
arafant_pb_20230509.mp3	(Top End, NT)	Territorial call(?)	© PB
arafant_pb_20201014.m4a	(Top End, NT)	Territorial calls(?)	© PB
arafant_pb_20180611.m4a	(Top End, NT)	Warning calls(?)	© PB
arafant_pb_20180619.m4a	(Top End, NT)	Various	© PB

More Arafura Fantail sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.

Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Sat, 13 May 2023, 2:13 +00:00