Rhipidura rufiventris
Silhouette: Michael Scroggie · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week >90%
The northern fantail (Rhipidura rufiventris) is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae. It is found in New Guinea, Timor, and northern Australia (from Broome in Western Australia to the Shire of Burdekin in Queensland). Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.
The northern fantail was formally described in 1818 as Platyrhynchos rufiventris by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot. The specific epithet is Modern Latin meaning "red-bellied" from Latin rufus meaning "ruddy" or "rufous" with venter, ventris meaning "belly". Vieillot mistakenly believed that the specimen had been collected in "Nouvelle-Hollande" (Australia). The type locality has been designated as the island of Timor. The specimen described by Vieillot had probably been collected in 1801 by René Maugé de Cely during the Baudin expedition to Australia. The northern fantail is now placed in the genus Rhipidura that was introduced in 1827 by Nicholas Vigors and Thomas Horsfield. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nitmiluk National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Litchfield National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Raja Ampat | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 5 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Fantail sighting in Kakadu National Park on a given day, based on 615 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 42nd most-seen of the 186 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Fantail in Kakadu National Park on a given day, against about 20% in May and December, the lowest months. That is one of Kakadu National Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 350 mm in January. February has too few records to rate.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Northern 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.
Among the best
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Northern Fantail sightings, Kakadu National Park ranks 2nd at about 40%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Nitmiluk National Park (Australia, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Rhipidura
The closest relatives of the Northern Fantail that you can see in Kakadu National Park (genus Rhipidura, Fantails) are Willie Wagtail (about 60%) and Arafura Fantail (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Northern Fantail is recorded against all the birds logged in Kakadu National Park (615 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.
