Bird of the Month: Rufous Fantail

The bird of the month for September is the Rufous Fantail. This species occurs along eastern and northern Australia and will migrate south in early spring becoming common in rainforest areas of the Illawarra from September through to autumn.

They can often be seen flittering around with other small insectivorous birds in the upper and lower canopy catching insects on the wing. Their high-pitched ascending thin whistle call makes them fairly easy to distinguish among the sounds of the forest.

Rufous Fantails are certainly quite a challenge to photograph as they rarely stay still. I had spotted this particular individual in the lower canopy darting between branches on the new Bald Hill track at Stanwell Park.

I was quite lucky when it stopped on a branch suddenly quite close to me and sat completely still for a few seconds allowing me to rattle off a heap of photos.