Fantail

Rhipidura fuliginosa. Maori name- Piwakwaka

These are poor quality shots, but I was so excited to have this little visitor in my home that I'm blipping them anyway. It stayed 3 or 4 minutes, making the most strident racket, flitting at great speed to capture any flying insects on the wing, and hovering against walls and ceiling to pick off anything that didn't have a good bolthole. It all happened so quickly and I'm rather slow so I wasn't able to make the most of it. The low light and confined space added to the problem, and the batteries in my camera died! The few shots I did get were when it settled momentarily on the kitchen clothes line or a light cord.

It fluttered and glided back and forth, and around, passing within two feet of me many times. When the fantail discovered the mirror it attacked with gusto.

Fantails are just under 6.5 inches long. This was a pied fantail- the parts that show black in the photos should be dark brown. I didn't get a single shot of its tail open. It is partly open in the top right shot, but when fully open there is a wide fan of mostly white feathers, with the dark brown upper feathers in the middle. When feeding they move in a similar manner to welcome swallows.

Fantails don't live in my garden, but it is on their seasonal migration route. For two or three weeks spring and autumn I am treated with their cheeky penetrating chirp- so much louder that the starling imitation. For several years a rare black one was among them. They don't normally come inside my house, but it is common in places where they spend more time.

Not so good in large.