Northern Fantail

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). Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. == Taxonomy == The northern fantail was formally described in 1818 as Platyrhynchos rufiventris by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot. The specific epithet is Modern Latin meaning "red-bellied" from Latin rufus meaning "ruddy" or "rufous" with venter, ventris meaning "belly". Vieillot mistakenly believed that the specimen had been collected in "Nouvelle-Hollande" (Australia). The type locality has been designated as the island of Timor. The specimen described by Vieillot had probably been collected in 1801 by René Maugé de Cely during the Baudin expedition to Australia. The northern fantail is now placed in the genus Rhipidura that was introduced in 1827 by Nicholas Vigors and Thomas Horsfield. Twenty subspecies are recognised: 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…