White-throated Fantail

The white-throated fantail is a small passerine about 19 cm long, with a dark fan-shaped tail edged in white and a white eyebrow and throat; the plumage varies a lot between races. Most resemble the Himalayan race, primarily slate grey above and below with a black eye mask. It is found in forest, scrub and cultivation from the Himalaya, India and Bangladesh east to Indonesia, and can be confused with the white-browed fantail where their ranges overlap. The white-spotted fantail was until recently considered a subspecies (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is insectivorous and often fans its tail as it moves through the undergrowth. The male's call is a valuable tool for detection and identification, and birds use the same song year after year with slow changes. It lays three white eggs with a band of brown spots in a small cup nest in a tree. SoIB 2023 rates it a Low conservation priority, a resident and altitudinal migrant of forest and plantation with a Large range and an increase of about 63% over the long term (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).