Rhipidura albiscapa Gould, 1840
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Grey Fantail, Brunkerville, New South Wales, Australia
JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The grey fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa) is a small insectivorous bird. There is no sexual dimorphism. It is a common fantail found in Australia, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. The species is considered by many to be conspecific with the New Zealand fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa); however, differences in its calls lead some authorities to treat it as a separate species. The studies of grey fantail in 1999 by Richard Schodde and Ian Mason recommended that Tasmanian grey fantail was formally classified as R. albiscapa and New Zealand fantails populations as R. fuliginosa
Wikipedia contributors, Grey fantail; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T14:09:29.218699+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Rhipidura albiscapa Gould, 1840
- Name authority
- Gould, 1840
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Rhipiduridae
- Genus
- Rhipidura
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyRhipiduridae Sundevall, 1872
- genusRhipidura Vigors & Horsfield, 1827
- speciesRhipidura albiscapa Gould, 1840
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Rhipidura. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| White-throated FantailRhipidura albicollis (Vieillot, 1818) | RhipiduridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black FantailRhipidura atra Salvadori, 1876 | RhipiduridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bismarck FantailRhipidura dahli Reichenow, 1897 | RhipiduridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Streak-breasted FantailRhipidura dedemi Oort, 1911 | RhipiduridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Brown-capped FantailRhipidura diluta Wallace, 1864 | RhipiduridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Brown FantailRhipidura drownei Mayr, 1931 | RhipiduridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Rusty-bellied FantailRhipidura teysmanni Büttikofer, 1892 | RhipiduridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sooty Thicket FantailRhipidura threnothorax S. Muller, 1843 | RhipiduridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pohnpei FantailRhipidura kubaryi Finsch, 1876 | RhipiduridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Rhipidura nigritorquis Vigors, 1831 | RhipiduridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Kadavu FantailRhipidura personata E. P. Ramsay, 1875 | RhipiduridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Rufous FantailRhipidura rufifrons (Latham, 1802) | RhipiduridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=915859 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4SB9M. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.