The white-bellied thicket fantail (''Rhipidura leucothorax'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family

Rhipiduridae The family Rhipiduridae are small insectivorous birds of Australasia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent that includes the fantails and silktails. Taxonomy and systematics There are four genera classified within the family: * Subfamily R ...

. This species is one of 47 in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Rhipidura''. It is found in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s and subtropical or tropical

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

forests.

Description

Medium-sized long-tailed bird (18cm, 19-19.7g). The plumage is blackish with a white belly, white spots on the chest, wings, side of the neck and a white tip of the tail. There is as well a short white stripe above the eye. The legs are dark - from dark gray to black. The tail is often upturned and fanned out. Males and females are similar. Juveniles are similar to adults, but browner in color, with spots on the breast and totally black bill. White-bellied thicket fantail is similar to

Black thicket fantail The black thicket fantail (''Rhipidura maculipectus'') is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae. It is found in the Aru Islands and New Guinea. This species is one of 47 in the genus ''Rhipidura''. Description This is a medium-sized, lo ...

(''R. maculipectus''), but is differed by its white breast (which is reflected in its name). This species is also similar to

Sooty thicket fantail The sooty thicket fantail (''Rhipidura threnothorax'') is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae. It is found in New Guinea. Habitats and behavior The majority of fantails are strong fliers, and some species can undertake long migration ...

(''R. threnothorax'') but that one has no white tip of the tale.

Habitats and behavior

The majority of fantails are strong fliers, and some species can undertake long migrations, but white-bellied thicket fantail as well as the other thicket fantails (

sooty thicket fantail The sooty thicket fantail (''Rhipidura threnothorax'') is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae. It is found in New Guinea. Habitats and behavior The majority of fantails are strong fliers, and some species can undertake long migration ...

and

black thicket fantail The black thicket fantail (''Rhipidura maculipectus'') is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae. It is found in the Aru Islands and New Guinea. This species is one of 47 in the genus ''Rhipidura''. Description This is a medium-sized, lo ...

) are very weak fliers, and need to alight regularly. The birds of this species are very secretive and it is rather difficult to notice them. Inhabits the forest thickets of plains and hills, at altitudes up to 1350 m above sea level. They live in a variety of biotopes: in shrubs, thickets bordering watercourses, forests and light forests, near forest swamps and along the edges of

mangroves A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several ...

and in the gardens as well. Like other fantails, white-bellied thicket ones are entomophages. They are feeding usually within a few meters of the ground. Approximately 40% of the prey is harvested, 20% is caught on the fly. The voice is a descending sound followed by a high ringing note «juu-wee!». The nest is a small cup with a «tail». It is built of dried reeds or smth like that, lined with roots bound with spiders' webs. The nests are placed in the branch forks at a height of about 0.5 m. The clutch consists of 2 eggs 16-19 * 13-14.5 mm in size. The eggs are white, with blurry browny and lilac-gray spots, located mostly in the middle.

Taxonomy

According to

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

there are 2 recognised subspecies.Gill F., Donsker D. & Rasmussen P. (Eds.)
Orioles, drongos, fantails
''

World Bird List (v11.2)''. doi:10.14344/IOC.ML.11.2 In alphabetical order, these are: * ''R. l. leucothorax'' Salvadori, 1874 — west of SE part of

and also:

Kairiru Kairiru is one of three Kairiru languages spoken mainly on Kairiru and Mushu islands and in several coastal villages on the mainland between Cape Karawop and Cape Samein near Wewak in East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea. Morphology Pronouns ...

and Muschu islands at the north of New Guinea * ''R. l. episcopalis'' Ramsay, EP, 1878 — east part of SE of New Guinea

References

External Links

White-bellied thicket fantail ''Rhipidura leucothorax'' Salvadori, 1874
at «xeno-canto» website — Birds' Voices all over the world * *

white-bellied thicket fantail The white-bellied thicket fantail (''Rhipidura leucothorax'') is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae. This species is one of 47 in the genus ''Rhipidura''. It is found in New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moi ...

Birds of New Guinea

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Rhipiduridae-stub