White-throated Fantail (Rhipidura albicollis) [XC769763]
by Jelle Scharringa from Mt. Trusmadi Forest Reserve, Malaysia (song)
White-throated Fantail (Rhipidura albicollis) [XC633076]
by Bram Piot from Dankuni , Hooghly, West Bengal, India (call)
Subspecies
Often considered conspecific with White-spotted Fantail (Rhipidura albogularis), on basis of intergradation in north-eastern India, but this is demonstrated by only a handful of hybrid specimens and the two occupy different habitats. Relationships with other members of the genus unclear. It has been suggested that White-bellied Fantail (Rhipidura euryura) and Spotted Fantail (Rhipidura perlata) may be close relatives, but there is little evidence to support such affinities.
The following 9 subspecies are recognised:
canescens (Koelz, 1939) - Foothills of Himalayas from north-eastern Pakistan and Kashmir east to western Nepal.
albicollis (Vieillot, 1818) - Central Himalayas (Nepal and Sikkim), and from plains of Bangladesh south to eastern India (lower West Bengal). Non-breeding in lowlands.
stanleyi Baker, ECS, 1916 - Eastern Himalayas (eastern from Sikkim) east to north-western and western Myanmar, south to eastern Bangladesh.
celsa Riley, 1929 - South-eastern Tibet, Myanmar (except north-western and west), southern China (south-eastern Xizang and southern Sichuan south to Yunnan, Guangxi and Hainan), Thailand (except south) and northern Indochina.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet