The northern fantail (Rhipidura rufiventris) is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae. It is found in New Guinea, Timor, and northern Australia (from Broome in Western Australia to the Shire of Burdekin in Queensland).[2] Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.
| Northern fantail | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Rhipiduridae |
| Genus: | Rhipidura |
| Species: | R. rufiventris |
| Binomial name | |
| Rhipidura rufiventris (Vieillot, 1818) | |
 | |
Taxonomy
editThe northern fantail was formally described in 1818 as Platyrhynchos rufiventris by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot.[3] The specific epithet is Modern Latin meaning "red-bellied" from Latin rufus meaning "ruddy" or "rufous" with venter, ventris meaning "belly".[4] Vieillot mistakenly believed that the specimen had been collected in "Nouvelle-Hollande" (Australia). The type locality has been designated as the island of Timor.[5] The specimen described by Vieillot had probably been collected in 1801 by René Maugé de Cely during the Baudin expedition to Australia.[6][7] The northern fantail is now placed in the genus Rhipidura that was introduced in 1827 by Nicholas Vigors and Thomas Horsfield.[8]
Twenty subspecies are recognised:[8]
- R. r. tenkatei Büttikofer, J, 1892 – Rote Island (eastern Lesser Sunda Islands)
- R. r. rufiventris (Vieillot, LJP, 1818) – eastern Lesser Sunda Islands (Semau, Timor, and Jaco Island)
- R. r. pallidiceps Hartert, EJO, 1904 – Wetar (eastern Lesser Sunda Islands)
- R. r. hoedti Büttikofer, J, 1892 – eastern Lesser Sunda Islands (Sermata, Moa, Leti, Romang, and Damar Island)
- R. r. assimilis Gray, GR, 1858 – Tayandu and Kai islands, southern Moluccas
- R. r. finitima Hartert, EJO, 1918 – Watubela Islands, southern Moluccas
- R. r. bouruensis Wallace, AR, 1863 – Buru Island (southern Moluccas)
- R. r. cinerea Wallace, AR, 1865 – southern Moluccas (Seram, Ambon, and Boana)
- R. r. obiensis Salvadori, AT, 1876 – Obi Island (northern Moluccas)
- R. r. vidua Salvadori, AT & Turati, E, 1874 – Kofiau (Raja Ampat Islands, off western New Guinea)
- R. r. gularis Müller, S, 1843 – New Guinea, including Yapen (Cenderawasih Bay, off northwestern New Guinea) and northern Torres Strait Islands (Boigu Island)
- R. r. nigromentalis Hartert, EJO, 1898 – Misima and Tagula Island (Louisiade Archipelago, off southeastern New Guinea)
- R. r. finschii Salvadori, AT, 1882 – New Britain and Duke of York (southeastern Bismarck Archipelago)
- R. r. setosa (Quoy, JRC & Gaimard, JP, 1832) – New Hanover, Dyaul Island, and New Ireland (northeastern Bismarck Archipelago)
- R. r. gigantea Stresemann, EFT, 1933 – Bismarck Archipelago (Lihir Island and Tabar Groups)
- R. r. tangensis Mayr, E, 1955 – Bismarck Archipelago (Boang and Tanga Islands)
- R. r. niveiventris Rothschild, LW & Hartert, EJO, 1914 – Admiralty Islands
- R. r. mussai Rothschild, LW & Hartert, EJO, 1924 – Mussau Island, in St. Matthias Group (north-central Bismarck Archipelago)
- R. r. isura Gould, J, 1841 – northern Australia (Kimberley region, northern Western Australia to Cape York Peninsula and Wet Tropics region, northern Queensland)
- R. r. kordensis Meyer, AB, 1874 – Biak (Cenderawasih Bay, off northwestern New Guinea)
The subspecies R. r. kordensis has sometimes been considered as a separate species, the Biak fantail.[9]
References
edit- ↑ BirdLife International (2016). "Rhipidura rufiventris". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016 e.T103708785A94091725. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T103708785A94091725.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ↑ "Species profile—Rhipidura rufiventris (northern fantail)". Species information. Queensland Government. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
- ↑ Vieillot, Louis Pierre (1818). Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle, appliquée aux arts, à l'agriculture, à l'économie rurale et domestique, à la médecine, etc (in French). Vol. 27 (Nouvelle édition ed.). Paris: Deterville. p. 21.
- ↑ Jobling, James A. "rufiventris". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
- ↑ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 538.
- ↑ Jansen, Justin J.F.J. (2017). "René Maugé's ornithological collections from Kupang Bay, West-Timor, Indonesia, August-November 1801, with special regard to type-specimens". Zoosystematics and Evolution. 93 (2): 467–492. doi:10.3897/zse.93.19964.
- ↑ Jansen, Justin J.F.J. (2017). "Towards the resolution of long-standing issues regarding birds collected during the Baudin expedition to Australia and Timor (1800–1804): specimens still present, and their importance to Australian ornithology". Journal of the National Museum (Prague), Natural History Series. 186: 51–84. doi:10.2478/jzh-2018-0003.
- 1 2 AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi:10.2173/avilist.v2025. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
- ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (February 2025). "Orioles, drongos, fantails". IOC World Bird List Version 15.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 7 January 2025.