Rhipidura dryas
Silhouette: Michael Scroggie · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The Arafura fantail (Rhipidura dryas), sometimes known as the wood fantail, inhabits the Lesser Sunda Islands, the northern coast of Australia from the Kimberley to the western side of the Cape York Peninsula, including subcoastally in the Top End of the Northern Territory, and southern New Guinea. It is similar to the rufous fantail, from which it has been split taxonomically but, apart from minor overlap in the eastern Moluccas, their geographic ranges are discrete. It is generally duller than the rufous fantail with the rufous colouration more restricted.
The species is typically found in mangroves and other coastal woodland, alongside primary and secondary low-level forest. The species tolerates a wide altitudinal range, from near sea level to around 2000 metres in the Timor part of its range.
It is one of over 60 member species of the genus Rhipidura, commonly known as the fantails.... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Litchfield National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Nitmiluk National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an Arafura Fantail sighting in Kakadu National Park on a given day, based on 339 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 65th most-seen of the 186 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and December
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report an Arafura Fantail in Kakadu National Park on a given day, against about 10% in January and March, the lowest months. February has too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Arafura Fantail sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Arafura Fantail sightings, Kakadu National Park has the highest daily chance: about 20%. Next come Litchfield National Park (Australia, under 5%) and Nitmiluk National Park (Australia, under 5%).
Same genus: Rhipidura
The closest relatives of the Arafura Fantail that you can see in Kakadu National Park (genus Rhipidura, Fantails) are Willie Wagtail (about 60%) and Northern Fantail (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Arafura Fantail is recorded against all the birds logged in Kakadu National Park (339 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
