New Zealand fantail

Rhipidura fuliginosa

The New Zealand fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa) is a bird found in New Zealand and Australia. Forests and gardens across New Zealand. It eats insects and other small invertebrates and seeds and nuts. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

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Scientific name	Rhipidura fuliginosa
Region	Australia & Oceania
Found in	New Zealand and Australia

🏡 Where the New Zealand fantail lives

Forests and gardens across New Zealand.

🍽️ What it eats

🐛 Insects & bugs90%
🌰 Seeds & nuts10%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

LCNTVUENCREWEX

Least ConcernThere are plenty of these birds.

💡 It fans out its tail like a peacock and flits after insects.

Hear the New Zealand fantail

Recorded by Matt Slaymaker (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC537843. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the New Zealand fantail

Where does the New Zealand fantail live?

The New Zealand fantail lives in New Zealand and Australia. Forests and gardens across New Zealand.

What does the New Zealand fantail eat?

insects and other small invertebrates (about 90%), seeds and nuts (about 10%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the New Zealand fantail endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from Australia & Oceania

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.