What does it look like?
A Fantail is a bird that is different from most other NZ birds.
A Fantail has a tail on its rear end that looks like a fan.
The Piwakawaka colors are brown, green, black and white.
Where does it live?
A Piwakawaka is mainly found in rainforests, deserts and urban rainforests.
The reason why they can survive in these types of areas is that they have a special blubber to keep them warm.
Where their habitat/location is?
Piwakawaka mainly lives between Northland and the Chatham Islands.
They are found throughout all of New Zealand. You can only find Fantails in New Zealand, that means they are endemic.
What does it eat and how does it get its food?
Fantails (piwakawaka) like to eat moths, flies, beetles and spiders.
Most of the time they hop around upside-down amongst tree ferns and foliage to pick insects from the underside of leaves.
They also follow us because our footsteps disturb the insects that they like to eat.
Where do they breed? Who looks after the young?
How long do the babies get looked after for?
The Fantails (piwakawaka) breed in the North Island.
The female Fantail (piwakawaka) looks after the young really carefully.
Both adults take care of them for about 14 days.
They mainly make their nests in a cup-shaped nest and often near water.
Within 1 breeding season they can have up to 5 sets of eggs.
After about 2 and a half weeks the chicks fledge (their first flight) the nest.
Social Behaviour
Fantails (piwakawaka) often approach us very closely so people think they are naturally friendly.
Fantails (piwakawaka) can be found in groups but sometimes on their own.
Threats
Fantails (piwakawaka) threats are humans, ferrets, stoats, and possums. Male Fantails protect their territory.
The females protect the babies by trying to trick the predators by leading the predators away from the nest and pretending to be injured.
Some Fantail (piwakawaka) man-made threats are 1080 and plastic. 1080 can kill Fantails and they try to eat plastic.
By Tyler
