fantail

—fan-tailed, adj.

/fan"tayl'/, n.

1. a tail, end, or part shaped like a fan.

2. one of a breed of domestic pigeons, having a fan-shaped tail.

3. any of various small birds having fanlike tails, as the Old World flycatchers of the genus Rhipidura and the American wood warblers of the genus Euthlypis.

4. See fantail goldfish.

5. Building Trades, Archit. a structure or structural member having a number of radiating parts, as an arch centering.

6. Naut.

a. the part of a rounded stern extending abaft the aftermost perpendicular; rounded counter.

b. the area within this.

7. Western U.S. a mustang.

adj.

8. Cookery. (of shrimp) shelled, split almost through, and flattened slightly before cooking.

[1720-30; FAN¹ + TAIL¹]

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▪ bird

also called  Fan-tailed Flycatcher,  

 any of numerous birds of the Old World subfamily Rhipidurinae, family Muscicapidae (q.v.). Some authors retain these birds in the subfamily Muscicapinae. The fantails constitute the genus Rhipidura. Fantails are native to forest clearings, riverbanks, and beaches from southern Asia to New Zealand; some have become tame garden birds. Most of the two dozen species are coloured in shades of gray, black, brown, or rufous, often accented with areas of white, especially on the belly, eyebrows, and tail. They are named from their habit of constantly wagging and spreading their long, rounded tails. They build small cup nests, which are so finely bound in cobweb that they seem shellacked.

      Examples are the white-browed fantail (R. aureola), a brownish resident of Bangladesh and India, 18 centimetres (7 inches) long; and the gray fantail, or cranky fan (R. fuliginosa), 16 cm (6 ¹/₄ in.) long, a common species in Australia, New Zealand, and nearby islands. The best known Australian fantail is the willy-wagtail (R. leucophrys), found northward to New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. One of the larger fantails (22 cm [8 ¹/₂ in.]), it has a short, sweet song, sometimes uttered at night.

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