Visayan Fantail

SCI Name:  Rhipidura albiventris
Protonym:  Philentoma albiventris Trans.Linn.Soc.London(2), 1 p. 325
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Rhipiduridae / Rhipidura
Taxonomy Code:  visfan1
Type Locality:  Guimaras.
Author:  Sharpe
Publish Year:  1877
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

RHIPIDURA
(Rhipiduridae; Ϯ New Zealand Fantail R. fuliginosa) Gr. ῥιπις rhipis, ῥιπιδος rhipidos  fan; ουρα oura  tail; “Fan-tailed Fly-catcher  ... flies always with its tail spread in shape of a fan.” (Latham 1783); "Genus. RHIPIDURA*.  Rostrum breve, depressum, basi latum, apice compressum, culmine arcuato; mandibula superiore apice emarginata; naribus basalibus, ovalibus, setis plumulisque fere obtectis; rictu vibrissis confertis mandibulas longitudine fere superantibus instructo.  Alæ mediocres, subacuminatæ; remige prima brevissima, secunda duplo longiore, tertia et quarta, quæ est longissima, gradatim longioribus.  Cauda elongata, patula, apice rotundata.  Pedes mediocres, graciles, acrotarsiis paratarsiisque integris.  This group may be at once recognised as offering strong marks of distinction from the true Muscicapa in the fan-like structure of the tail.   ...   *'Pιπις flabellum, and ουρα cauda.   ...   1. FLABELLIFERA. ...  Muscicapa flabellifera. Gmel. i. 943. no. 67.  Fan-tailed Flycatcher. Lath. Gen. Hist. vi. p. 184. no. 44. pl. 99.  ...  Fantail.—There is something singular in the habits of this bird. It frequents the small trees and bushes, from whence it suddenly darts at its prey, spreading out its tail like a fan, and to appearance turning over like a tumbler Pigeon, and then immediately returning to the same twig or bough from whence it sprang.   ...   2. MOTACILLOIDES.  ...  It bears a great resemblance to the description of Dr. Latham's Motacilla atricapilla, or the Black-topped Flycatcher of his "General History," but differs in the colour of the bill, back and throat.   ...   3. RUFIFRONS.  ...  Muscicapa rufifrons. Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. 1. no. 5.  Rufous-fronted Flycatcher.  Id. Gen. Hist. vi. p. 213. no. 95." (Vigors & Horsfield 1827); "Rhipidura Vigors and Horsfield, 1827, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 15, p. 246. Type, by subsequent designation (G. R. Gray, 1840, List Gen. Birds, p. 32), Muscicapa flabellifera Gmelin [= Muscicapa fuliginosa Sparrman]." (Mayr in Peters 1986, XI, 530).
Var. Ripidura, Rhipadura, Rhissidura.
Synon. Cyanonympha, Howeavis, Leucocirca, Muscylva, Neomyias, Rhipidicidura, Ripidicala, Rupicula, Sauloprocta, Setosura.

rhipidura / rhipidurus
Gr. ῥιπις rhipis, ῥιπιδος rhipidos  fan; -ουρος -ouros  -tailed  < ουρα oura  tail.

albiventer / albiventre / albiventris
L. albus  white; venter, ventris  belly.
● ex “Drongri à Ventre Blanc” of Levaillant 1805, pl. 171 (syn. Dicrurus leucophaeus).
● ex “Martin-pêcheur de l’Île de Luçon” of Sonnerat 1776 (Halcyon).
● ex “Hirondelle à ventre blanc de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 546, fig. 2 (Tachycineta).