The white-winged fantail (''Rhipidura cockerelli'') or Cockerell's fantail, is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family Rhipiduridae. It is found in the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

apart from the island of

Malaita Malaita is the primary island of Malaita Province in Solomon Islands. Malaita is the most populous island of the Solomon Islands, with a population of 161,832 as of 2021, or more than a third of the entire national population. It is also the se ...

in the southeast of the archipelago. The white-gorgeted fantail (''Rhipidura coultasi'') was formerly considered as a subspecies. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, 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 manifestation of its ...

is subtropical or tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

Taxonomy

The white-winged fantail was formally described in 1879 by the Australian ornithologist

Edward Pierson Ramsay Edward Pierson Ramsay (3 December 1842 – 16 December 1916) was an Australian zoologist who specialised in ornithology. Early life Ramsay was born in Dobroyd Estate, Long Cove, Sydney, and educated at St Mark's Collegiate School, The King's S ...

based on a specimen that had been collected by James F. Cockerell on

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...

in the

. Ramsay coined the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''Sauloprocta cockerelli''. The specific epithet was chosen to honour the collector. This species is now placed with the other fantails in the genus ''

Rhipidura Fantails are small insectivorous songbirds of the genus ''Rhipidura'' in the family (biology), family Rhipiduridae, native to Australasia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Most of the species are about long, specialist aerial feeders ...

'' that was introduced in 1827 by the naturalists Nicholas Vigors and

Thomas Horsfield Thomas Horsfield (May 12, 1773 – July 24, 1859) was an American physician and natural history, naturalist who worked extensively in Indonesia, describing numerous species of plants and animals from the region. He was later a curator of the Eas ...

. Six

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are recognised: * ''R. c. septentrionalis''

Rothschild Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "to the red shield", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by signs ...

& Hartert, EJO, 1916 –

Buka Island Buka Island is the second-largest island in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, in eastern Papua New Guinea. It is in Buka Rural LLG of North Bougainville District, with the Autonomous Region's and district's capital city of Buka, Bougai ...

Bougainville Island Bougainville Island (; Tok Pisin: ''Bogenvil'') is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, which is part of Papua New Guinea. Its land area is . The highest point is Mount Balbi, on the main island, at . The much smaller Buk ...

and Shortland Islands (northwest

) * ''R. c. interposita'' Rothschild & Hartert, EJO, 1916 – Choiseul Island and Santa Isabel Island (central east

) * ''R. c. lavellae'' Rothschild & Hartert, EJO, 1916 – Vella Lavella and Ranongga (north

New Georgia New Georgia, with an area of , is the largest of the islands in Western Province (Solomon Islands), Western Province, Solomon Islands, and the List of islands by area, 203rd-largest island in the world. Since July 1978, the island has been par ...

group, central west Solomon Islands) * ''R. c. albina'' Rothschild & Hartert, EJO, 1901 – Kolombangara, Kohinggo,

, Vangunu, Rendova and Tetepare Islands (central, south

group, central west Solomon Islands) * ''R. c. floridana''

Mayr Mayr is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andrea Mayr (born 1979), Austrian female long-distance runner * Ernst Mayr (1904–2005), German American evolutionary biologist * Franz Xaver Mayr (1875–1965), Austrian gastro ...

, 1931 – Nggela Islands (Florida Islands) (central south Solomon Islands) * ''R. c. cockerelli'' ( Ramsay, EP, 1879) –

(central south Solomon Islands) The white-gorgeted fantail (''Rhipidura coultasi'') was formerly treated as a subspecies. It is endemic to the island of

in the southeast Solomon Islands.

References

White-winged fantail Endemic birds of the Solomon Islands White-winged fantail Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Rhipiduridae-stub