Palau fantail

The Palau fantail (Rhipidura lepida) is a species of bird in the fantail family Rhipiduridae. It is endemic to Palau.

Palau fantail

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Rhipiduridae
Genus: Rhipidura
Species:
R. lepida
Binomial name
Rhipidura lepida

Taxonomy and systematics

The species is closely related to and forms a superspecies with the long-tailed fantail of the Tanimbar Islands, the Sulawesi fantail of Sulawesi, the tawny-backed fantail of Buru and the streak-breasted fantail of Seram, all in Indonesia. The specific name, lepida, was given to the species when it was described by Hartlaub and Finsch in 1868, and is Latin, lepidus for charming.[2]

Description

The Palau fantail is a typical fantail, short-bodied and long-tailed, measuring 18 cm (7.1 in). The crown, nape, back and upper tail are cinnamon. The throat and malar are white and the breast is black, the wings are black edged with cinnamon, and the belly is white. The tail is black tipped with rufous. The sexes are the same in plumage but the females are slightly smaller. Juveniles have brown upperparts, and dingy white throats.[2]

Habitat and distribution

The Palau fantail is endemic to Palau in the Pacific Ocean, where it can be found on Babeldaob (the largest island), Koror, Urukthapel, Eil Malk and Peleliu. The species is found in forests, including mature primary forests, secondary growth and forest patches in ravines in savannah. It will occasionally enter scrub and is found, albeit infrequently, in mangrove forests. The species is non-migratory.[2]

Behaviour

The Palau fantail is an active feeder, hopping and flying while searching for prey, which can be caught in the air from or gleaned from vegetation. It moves through the subcanopy and undergrowth of the forest, occasionally, taking prey from tree trunks and rocks.[2]

Very little is known about its breeding behaviour. Its nest is a tightly woven cup with a trailing tail set in a fork in a branch.[2]

Status and conservation

The Palau fantail is not considered to be threatened with extinction. It is a restricted range species, being only found in Palau, but can be common within its range, and is thought to have increased in numbers since the 1930-1940s. It is one of the more common forest birds in Palau, and is listed as least concern by the IUCN.[2]

gollark: Apparently the idiots at Intel decided to ban benchmarking CPUs running their new microcode for a security problem fix.
gollark: I still don't see why you would ever need that.
gollark: Of course you want a chuck norris joke printed backwards.
gollark: Why would you need that?
gollark: Why would you want that? Would they not all be the same file or something?

References
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Rhipidura lepida". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Boles, W. (2017). Palau Fantail (Rhipidura lepida). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/59158 on 26 March 2017).
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.