Rhipiduridae
Willie Wagtail
Rhipidura leucophrys
The Restless Usher
- Length
- 20 cm
- Wingspan
- 26 cm
- Family
- Rhipiduridae
Identification
A small, fearless fantail: glossy black above, clean white below, a distinct white eyebrow, and a long black tail that never quite stops. The restlessness is itself a field mark. On a Peninsula lawn or a wrack line they are the same bird — ushering insects out of the air.
Distinctive marks
- Black upperparts, white underparts
- White eyebrow
- Long, fanned, wagging tail
- Always in motion
- Bold around people and stock
Behaviour & ecology
Hawks insects from fences, lawns, and the backs of sheep. Nests are neat cups in unlikely places — under eaves, on boat trailers, in a hanging fern. They will scold a magpie twice their weight.
Voice
A sweet, rattling 'sweet-pretty-creature' and a scolding chatter when crossed.
On the Peninsula
Almost any open ground on the Peninsula, including car parks and the high-tide line.
Season
Year-round. Nesting can run from late winter well into summer.
Diet
Flying and ground insects.
Conservation
Secure.
Lore & resonance
The wagtail ushers insects out of the air as if clearing a path. If a yard has a wagtail, it still has a pulse.
If you would attract them
Short grass beside longer edges, and a few fences or low wires. Avoid spraying. They will find the rest.
