How big is a Black Fantail?

The Black Fantail is a tiny sized bird weighing about 12 g.

Where can you see a Black Fantail?

The Black Fantail occurs in 2 countries, including Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

What birds look similar to a Black Fantail?

The Black Fantail is most easily confused with the Spotted Fantail, the Blue-headed Fantail and the Palau Fantail.

Is the Black Fantail endangered?

The Black Fantail is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Black Fantail

Rhipidura atra

Fantails and Silktails · Passeriformes · Rare

The Black Fantail (Rhipidura atra) is a rare fantails and silktail found in 2 countries, weighing about 12 g. The black fantail is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae.

Least ConcernRareEats invertebratesforestcup nest12 g

Black Fantail (Rhipidura atra), photo 1 — Photo: themaskedlapwing · http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Black Fantail (Rhipidura atra), photo 2 — Photo: Zara · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Black Fantail (Rhipidura atra), photo 3 — Photo: Zara · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Black Fantail (Rhipidura atra), photo 4 — Photo: Zara · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Black Fantail (Rhipidura atra), photo 5 — Photo: Zara · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Black Fantail (Rhipidura atra), photo 6 — Photo: Zara · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Black Fantail (Rhipidura atra), photo 7 — Photo: Zara · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Black Fantail (Rhipidura atra), photo 8 — Photo: Zara · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Black Fantail (Rhipidura atra), photo 9 — Photo: Cheongweei Gan · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Black Fantail (Rhipidura atra), photo 10 — Photo: Jønsson, Knud|Bodawatta, Kasun|Reeve, Andrew · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

About the Black Fantail

The black fantail is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae. It is endemic to the highlands of New Guinea and the nearby island of Waigeo. The species was named by Italian naturalist Tommaso Salvadori in 1876, who gave it the specific name atra for the Latin word for dull black. Two subspecies have been described, the widespread nominate race R. a. atra, and R. a. vulpes of the Cyclops Mountains. R. a. vulpes was described in 1931 by Ernst Mayr, who named it from the rufous colour of foxes. Whithin the genus Rhipidura the closest relative of the black fantail is uncertain, a 2009 study of the genetics of the family found 6 well defined clades within the fantails but could not place…

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Where it lives

Papua New Guinea Indonesia

When to see it

Best months: June, July, August, September, October, November, December, with peak activity in August. It is a variable species across most of its range.

Easily confused with

Quick questions

What does a Black Fantail look like?: The black fantail is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae.
How big is a Black Fantail?: The Black Fantail is a tiny sized bird weighing about 12 g.
Where can you see a Black Fantail?: The Black Fantail occurs in 2 countries, including Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
What birds look similar to a Black Fantail?: The Black Fantail is most easily confused with the Spotted Fantail, the Blue-headed Fantail and the Palau Fantail.
Is the Black Fantail endangered?: The Black Fantail is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Learn the Black Fantail for real

BeakBrain drills you on photos and calls until you can greet this bird by name in the field. Free to play, on any device.

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