The Kadavu fantail (''Rhipidura personata'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the

fantail Fantails are small insectivorous songbirds of the genus ''Rhipidura'' in the family Rhipiduridae, native to Australasia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Most of the species are about long, specialist aerial feeders, and named as "f ...

family

Rhipiduridae The family Rhipiduridae are small insectivorous birds of Australasia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent that includes the fantails and silktails. Taxonomy and systematics The family contains 55 species which are divided into four genera ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Kadavu Kadavu may refer to: * Kadavu Island, the fourth largest island in Fiji * Kadavu Group, an archipelago in Fiji including Kadavu Island * Kadavu Province, a province of Fiji including Kadavu Group * Kadavu Airport or Vunisea Airport, an airport on K ...

and

Ono ONO, Ono or Ōno may refer to: Places Fiji * Ono Island (Fiji) Israel * Kiryat Ono * Ono, Benjamin, ancient site Italy * Ono San Pietro Ivory Coast * Ono, Ivory Coast, a village in Comoé District Japan * Ōno Castle, Fukuoka * ...

in the Kadavu archipelago, in southern

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

. It is closely related to the

streaked fantail The New Caledonian streaked fantail (''Rhipidura verreauxi'') is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae. It is endemic to New Caledonia, and the Loyalty Islands (but not Ouvéa Island). Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical mo ...

of the rest of Fiji, and forms a

superspecies In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

with the numerous island species of fantail ranging from the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

(the

brown fantail The Bougainville fantail (''Rhipidura drownei''), formerly the brown fantail, is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae. It is endemic of Bougainville Island in the Solomon Islands. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with the Guad ...

) to

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

(the

Samoan fantail The Samoan fantail (''Rhipidura nebulosa'') is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae. It is endemic to Samoa and is found in Upolu and Savaiʻi islands. Description The plumage is mostly dark greyish-brown with white undertail, black ta ...

). The Kadavu fantail is restricted to tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s, where it feeds by flycatching for

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s. It sometimes joins

mixed-species feeding flock A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each other and move together while foraging. These ar ...

s with

Polynesian triller The Polynesian triller (''Lalage maculosa'') is a passerine bird belonging to the triller genus ''Lalage'' in the cuckoo-shrike family Campephagidae. It has numerous subspecies distributed across the islands of the south-west Pacific. It is 15 ...

s, Fiji bush warblers and

silvereye The silvereye or wax-eye (''Zosterops lateralis''), also known by its Māori name tauhou, is a very small omnivorous passerine bird of the south-west Pacific. In Australia and New Zealand its common name is sometimes white-eye, but this name is ...

s. The breeding season is October and November. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

Taxonomy

Kadavu fantail (''R. personata'') forms a

with: *

Brown fantail The Bougainville fantail (''Rhipidura drownei''), formerly the brown fantail, is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae. It is endemic of Bougainville Island in the Solomon Islands. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with the Guad ...

(''R. drownei'') *

Makira fantail The Makira fantail or dusky fantail (''Rhipidura tenebrosa'') is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae. It is endemic to the Solomon Islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habit ...

(''R. tenebrosa'') *

Rennell fantail The Rennell fantail (''Rhipidura rennelliana'') is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae. It is endemic to Rennell Island (Solomon Islands). Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Description The plumage ...

(''R. rennelliana'') *

Streaked fantail The New Caledonian streaked fantail (''Rhipidura verreauxi'') is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae. It is endemic to New Caledonia, and the Loyalty Islands (but not Ouvéa Island). Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical mo ...

(''R. verreauxi'') *

(''R. nebulosa'')

References

Rhipidura Endemic birds of Fiji Birds described in 1876 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Rhipiduridae-stub