| White-throated Fantail | |
|---|---|
| Rhipidura (albicollis) albogularis | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Rhipiduridae |
| Genus: | Rhipidura |
| Species: | R. albicollis |
| Binomial name | |
| Rhipidura albicollis (Vieillot, 1818) |
|
The White-throated Fantail (Rhipidura albicollis) is a small passerine bird. It is found in forest, scrub and cultivation across tropical southern Asia from the Himalayas, India and Bangladesh east to Indonesia. It has numerous subspecies, including R. a. albogularis of Peninsular India, which is often treated as a separate species, the White-spotted Fantail or Spot-breasted Fantail (R. albogularis).
The adult White-throated Fantail is about 19 cm long. It has a dark fan-shaped tail, edged in white, and white supercilium and throat. There is otherwise much variation in plumage between races. Most resemble the Himalayan R. a. canescans which is mainly slate grey above and below, with a black eye mask, and a white throat and eyebrow, but R. a. albogularis of Peninsular India has whitish underparts, and a grey breast band that is spotted white.
Local names for the bird in India include – Nasoni sorai in Assamese.
The White-throated Fantail lays three eggs in a small cup nest in a tree.
The White-throated Fantail is insectivorous, and often fans its tail as it moves through the undergrowth.
Not normally renowned as a songster, the male of R. a. albogularis, the peninsular race, uses 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. The male's call is a valuable tool in detection and identification of the bird, which can often be confused with the White-browed Fantail, R. aureola, where their ranges overlap. R. aureola has light underparts and prominent spots in two rows on the wings. Its call is rather functional, and not as pleasant and aesthetic as that of R. albicollis.