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Order
Passeriformes
Family
Rhipiduridae
Genus
Rhipidura
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Malaita Fantail Rhipidura malaitae Scientific name definitions

Walter Boles
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2006

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

16 cm; 10·5–14·5 g. Plumage is pale rust-coloured above, crown and nape duskier, forehead, supercilium and side of face tawnier, lores paler; upperwing dusky black, basal half of outer webs of primaries and outer webs of wing-coverts pale rusty, secondaries broadly edged with russet on both webs; tail pale rusty; throat light ochraceous buff, underparts tawnier; underwing-coverts and axillaries pale rusty, outer webs of axillaries tinged with grey; iris red-brown; upper mandible bluish-black, lower mandible whitish; legs black. Sexes alike. Juvenile is like adult, but plumage softer, wing and tail shorter.

Systematics History

Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

Mountains of Malaita, in Solomon Is.

Habitat

Montane forest at 750–1200 m, usually above 900 m.

Movement

Resident.

Diet and Foraging

Insects. Forages actively, drooping wings, cocking and fanning tail. Joins mixed foraging flocks of small insectivorous species, including R. rufifrons.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song undescribed; contact call “see-seep”.

Breeding

No information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife NT Near Threatened

VULNERABLE. Restricted-range species: present in Solomon Group EBA. Rare. Has very small and localized population estimated at fewer than 1000 individuals, possibly only a few hundreds. Was apparently locally common in 1930, but recent records are from just two sites, both above 1100 m, in mountains of C Malaita. Invasive species may be a threat.

Distribution of the Malaita Fantail - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Malaita Fantail

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Boles, W. (2020). Malaita Fantail (Rhipidura malaitae), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.malfan1.01
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