Common. In south-western Western Australia a regular migrant, moving north, inland and down from mountain forests in March - April, returning September - October to breed.
Habitat
Inland and coastal scrubs, magroves, rainforests, eucalypt forest and woodlands, watercourses, orchards, parks, gardens.
Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa) [XC613050]
by Eliot Miller from Ilvualam gardens, Vanuatu (song)
Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa) [XC830797]
by Peter Boesman from Neck Reserve Camping Area (near South Bruny), Kingborough Council, Tasmania, Australia (call)
Breeding Season
July - December.
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Nest
Wine-glass shaped, usually with a tail, well contructed, composed of fibrous material bound with cobweb, lined with fine dry grass, usually on a thin horizontal fork, from 1 - 20 meters above the ground.
Eggs
2, sometimes 3 or 4; dull white to cream, minutely freckled or blotched with brown in a zone; long-oval; about 16 x 13 mm. Incubation: 13 - 14 days.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in 10 - 16 days.
Subspecies
Rhipidura fuliginosa (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993; Turbott 1990; Christidis and Boles 1994) has been split into New Zealand Fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa) and Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa) by Christidis and Boles (2008) but this treatment is not followed by the BirdLife International.
preissi Cabanis, 1850 - South-western Australia; on migration to north-western Australia.
Similar Species
Mangrove Grey Fantail (Rhipidura phasiana) which is slightly smaller, has a longer bill, a large prominent white eyebrow and Northern Fantail (Rhipidura rufiventris) which is larger, has a longer, broader bill, and a shorter, less-fanned tail.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9