New Zealand Fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa)
About the New Zealand Fantail
The New Zealand fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa) is a small insectivorous bird, the only species of fantail in New Zealand. It has four subspecies: R. f. fuliginosa in the South Island, R. f. placabilis in the North Island, R. f. penita in the Chatham Islands, and the now-extinct R. f. cervina formerly on Lord Howe Island. It is also known by its Māori names, pīwakawaka, tīwakawaka or piwaiwaka, and the Chatham Island subspecies by the Moriori name tchitake; the common pied morph is also known as pied fantail (not to be confused with the Malaysian or Philippine pied fantails), and the uncommon dark morph is also known as black fantail (not to be confused with the black fantail of New Guinea). The species has been considered by many to be conspecific (the same) as the grey fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa) of Australia and New Caledonia; however, due to significant differences in its calls, many authorities now treat it as a separate species.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 49 recordings for this species: 45 CC BY-NC-SA · 4 CC BY-NC-ND. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in New Zealand in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Related species you can hear
- Malaysian Pied FantailRhipidura javanicarecording
- Philippine Pied FantailRhipidura nigritorquisrecording
- White-browed FantailRhipidura aureolarecording
- Willie WagtailRhipidura leucophrysrecording
This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.