Meet the pīwakawaka

Cheeky and energetic, this pint sized flurry of activity is a reminder that good things really do come in small packages.

Small bird, big personality

It darts left, it flits right and hovers over your shoulder with an almost indecent level of interest. Perhaps it is their genuine interest in humans that makes the pīwakawaka/fantail one of New Zealand’s most loved native birds.

The friendly pīwakawaka is tiny, weighing about the same as a couple of grapes. But what it lacks in size, it more than makes up for in presence. That presence often announces itself with their impressive fan shaped tail, hence the English name, “fantail”.

Among Māori language speakers, pīwakawaka is just one name for Rhipidura fuliginosa, and is only used by some iwi, like Ngāi Tahu. In fact there are 19 names on record for this little flitterer! Commonly heard words for fantail include tīrairaka, pīrairaka and pīwaiwaka.

The most recognisable colour form sports a greyish-brown head, a cinnamon coloured belly and distinctive black and white chest bands. Lesser known is the black fantail that accounts for around five percent of the South Island population and has occasionally been spotted in parts of the North island. It’s the same bird, just wearing a much more dramatic outfit.

Invertebrates, watch out!

Don’t let the cuteness fool you. The pīwakawaka is in fact a lean, mean hunting machine. When it comes to rustling up dinner, the insectivorous fantail is a highly effective predator hunting a diet consisting almost entirely of small flies, moths, beetles, spiders and the occasional wasp (help yourself, we say).

This clever hunter makes use of three ingenious strategies. In open areas, it hawks. This involves spotting insects from a nearby perch and darting out to snatch up its unsuspecting prey. In denser bush, it flushes, flitting about to disturb insects hiding in undergrowth before swooping in to secure a tasty morsel. And then there’s the more familiar method: following. When we walk through the bush, our footsteps disturb insects, even if we can't always see them. The fantail has cottoned on to this and follows trampers, walkers who do half the job for them.

That extraordinary tail isn’t just for show either. It acts like a rudder, allowing the pīwakawaka to change direction mid-air with impressive speed that seems to defy physics. It also fans open suddenly to startle insects into movement, making them easier to catch.

A need to breed (and for speed)

The pīwakawaka’s restlessness is not accidental, it’s a survival strategy. Because it’s so small, it burns energy fast and needs to eat constantly. Chicks are fed around every ten minutes which goes some way to explaining why their parents never seem to stop moving.

A female pīwakawaka can produce up to five clutches of eggs in a single breeding season, and may begin building her next nest and laying a new clutch while she’s still feeding fledglings from the previous one. This high reproduction rate is part of what makes the pīwakawaka one of our more resilient native birds.

Cats, rats and stoats still have a significant toll on pīwakawaka but the ability for numbers to bounce back has helped to keep population numbers high.

Welcoming pīwakawaka to your backyard

Unlike the kākā, the pīwakawaka isn’t fussy about postcodes. It’s one of the few native birds that has genuinely adapted to life alongside humans. You’ll find them in gardens, orchards, suburban parks and native bush alike. And if you’re keen to see more of them in your backyard, the key is to attract insects by building biodiversity.

Pīwakawaka won’t visit a bird feeder as they’re not seed or nectar eaters. What they need is a garden that’s alive with insect activity. Letting some leaf litter pile up, and planting a diverse mix of native shrubs and flowering plants is a great way to encourage more insects (and as a result pīwakawaka) into your garden. Hebes, mānuka, kōwhai and native grasses can all help with this.

Fantails love a bit of a splish splash in a birdbath, so adding one to your backyard may increase your chances of seeing more in the neighbourhood. It doesn’t need to be fancy; a shallow bowl of clean water in a sheltered spot will do just fine.

Excluding predators goes a long way toward making a garden bird-friendly. Keep bird baths out of feline reach and consider either setting your own predator traps or supporting your local predator trapping network. Every rat and stoat that doesn’t make it means more young birds that do!

The final flight

Next time you’re out on a bush walk, a hike or just strolling around your local neighborhood, and hear a fantail cheep-cheeping to announce its presence… slow down. Watch it get to work. Chances are it’ll come close enough to make your day.