Aru Is, coastal south-eastern New Guinea (Lea Lea to Lese Oalai), and coastal north-western and northern Australia from Shark Bay (Western Australia) eastern patchily to R Edward (northern Queensland).
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Voice
An abrupt, 'tek tek' in contact. Song is a series of short, twittering squeaks, 'tsit-tsit, tsit-chit-chit, chitty-chit', less developed and more twittering than the Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa).
Mangrove Fantail (Rhipidura phasiana) [XC430896]
by James Lambert from Crab Creek mangroves, Roebuck Bay, Western Australia, Australia (call)
Mangrove Fantail (Rhipidura phasiana) [XC239863]
by Nigel Jackett from Broome Bird Observatory, Western Australia, Australia (call)
Nest
A tiny cup, with a long loose tail, composed of fiber bound with cobweb, lined with finer, soft fiber, on a slender or sloping branch or fork of a magrove shrub or tree, from 1 - 4 meters above the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
2, sometimes 3; pale buffy cream, minutely freckled and blotched with browns, in a zone; long-oval; about 15 x 12 mm.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Both sexes attend fledgelings.
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Chestnut-bellied Fantail (Rhipidura hyperythra), Friendly Fantail (Rhipidura albolimbata), Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa) and New Zealand Fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa). Formerly considered a subspecies of New Zealand Fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa), but now almost universally treated as a separate species on basis of morphology, voice, clutch size and habitat.
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
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet