New Zealand Fantail

The New Zealand Fantail, known as piwakawaka in Maori, is one of the country's smallest and most instantly recognizable birds thanks to its broad, fan-shaped tail, which it flicks open constantly while foraging. Most birds show the common "pied" morph, with grey-brown upperparts, a black-and-white facial pattern, a black breast band, and a buffy-orange wash on the underparts, but a scarcer all-black morph, more frequent in the South Island, occurs as well.

Fantails are famously tame and inquisitive, often approaching walkers closely, drawn by insects stirred up from the ground and vegetation by human movement. Their constant, restless flitting and wide tail fanning make them one of the easiest native birds to observe up close in New Zealand forest and gardens alike.

Key field marks

• Small size with a broad, fan-shaped tail frequently spread open
• Grey-brown upperparts with a black-and-white facial pattern (pied morph)
• Black breast band above buffy-orange underparts (pied morph)
• Alternative all-black morph, more common in the South Island
• Constant active flitting and short sallying flights after insects

Similar species

• Tomtit is similarly small but has a shorter tail, a stubbier bill, and lacks the fantail's characteristic wide tail-fanning display.
• New Zealand Robin is larger, longer-legged, and forages more on the ground with an upright stance, without the fantail's constant tail motion.

Range

Widespread throughout the North, South, and Stewart Islands of New Zealand, as well as many outlying islands, and closely related forms occur elsewhere in the southwest Pacific and Australia.

Habitat

Uses almost any wooded or shrubby habitat, including native forest, regenerating scrub, exotic plantations, and well-vegetated gardens and parks.

Migration

Mostly sedentary, though some altitudinal or local movement occurs outside the breeding season.

Behavior

Restless and highly active, constantly flitting between perches, fanning its tail, and making short aerial sallies to snatch insects, often in the company of larger birds or people whose movement disturbs prey.

Voice

A thin, high-pitched, repeated "tweet" or "chit" call, along with a soft warbling song from perched birds.

Feeding

An aerial insectivore, catching flying insects on short sallying flights and also gleaning insects from foliage and disturbed ground litter.

Nesting

Builds a distinctive cup nest with a long trailing "tail" of woven material hanging beneath it, placed on a thin horizontal branch; both parents incubate and feed the two to five chicks, and pairs may raise several broods in a season.