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PAKU VIEWS
ISSUE 4 AUTUMN/WINTER 2012
Fantail Facts
Just call me.
Piwakawaka is also called
Hiwaikwke, tirairaka, tiwakawaka and sixteen other
Maori dialect names, many of which denote the
restlessness of this little bird.
Vital stats.
The fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa)
is 16 centimetres long, including its 8cm tail and
weighs 8g, about the size of a house sparrow. There
are about 10 sub-species of fantail, three of which
live in New Zealand: the North Island fantail, the
South Island fantail and the Chatham Islands fantail.
Life span in NZ is less than three years.
Colouring.
Most fantails are brown above and
pale underneath. Their fan-like tail, usually held
high above the body, is made up of long dark central
feathers flanked by white. About 20% of South
Island fantails are completely black.
Speak ‘fantail’.
The usual call is a high-
pitched, repeated “cheet” described like a kissing
sound. Pucker your lips together, put your finger in-
between your lips, sucking in lightly. A succession of
these with variations produce fantail’s full song.
What it ‘tails’ for food.
The fantails don’t
just count on humans to flush out their insect
banquet. The birds also follow silvereyes, parakeets,
whiteheads and saddlebacks.
Who eats ‘em.
Rats are the biggest danger,
but cats, stoats and mynas are also their enemies.
Fantails are easy prey, and the way they survive
is by having lots of babies, and by tricking their
predators.
What’s with that tail?
The fantail’s tail
contributes to its distinctive flight – enabling
abrupt twisting and turning in the air as it catches
insects in flight.
ABOVE: Painting by Mandy Hague.
BELOW: “The Fobwatch” Painting by Mandy Hague, is a tribute
to her Mum’s stepfather as the watch was his. “The fantail to
me has an ethereal other-worldly quality”, she shares. “They
have an unfortunate reputation for forecasting death. In this
work the fantail represents him while acknowledging he is
present only in spirit and memory”.
Photo by Mandy Hague
BELOW: Fantails accompany Tovi on a walk
in Broken Hills Recreation Area.