Wednesday, January 8, 2014

A flirting fantail with suicidal downdropping behaviour

Pied Fantail (Rhipidura javanica)

 I have not been able to really zoom in to this bird until recently when I noticed their particular behaviour at close range.  One day I was at the fruiting Jackfruit tree with a few of the fruits overripe and partly rotten.  The fruits therefore attracted a lot of insects chiefly the fruit flies.  The name fantail describes its behaviour well.  It likes to prance and dances on the branches and twigs.  It opens its fantail wide in a flirting fashion.  But one behaviour that attracts me to this bird is its attempt at suicidal flight where it would downdrop its wings and tumble down only to rise up in quick succession to repeat its dances and prances.   
Note the characteristic white throat and quite long tail.

The Pied Fantail is a lowland forest resident in Bintulu and is the only species in the family that is known to come close to human habitations like gardens and plantations.


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