Bird of Day 37: White-throated Fantail

Rhipidura albicollis

The White-throated Fantail breeds across tropical southern Asia from the Himalayas, India and Bangladesh east to Indonesia. This species is found in forest, scrub and cultivation and is an insectivore.

The adult White-throated Fantail is 19cm long, including its tail which it often fans as it moves through the undergrowth. They lay three eggs in a small cup nest in a tree, like this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:White-throated_Fantail_(Rhipidura_albicollis)_nest_after_use_at_Narendrapur_I_IMG_7632.jpg">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:White-throated_Fantail_(Rhipidura_albicollis)_nest_after_use_at_Narendrapur_I_IMG_7632.jpg">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:White-throated_Fantail_(Rhipidura_albicollis)_nest_after_use_at_Narendrapur_I_IMG_7632.jpg

The peninsular race of the Rhipidura albicollis, R. a. albogularis, has a pleasant call using a fixed and unmistakable pattern of musical notes in its call. The notes are loud and normally divided into two stanzas - the first with 5-6 trilling notes rising and falling, followed by 4-5 notes rising up the scale and ending in the highest note. Birds use the same song year after year, with progressively small changes, with the result that the song sounds very different after 4-5 years.

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