Nest and egg of the Dimorphic Fantail Rhipidura brachyrhyncha and a review of clutch-sizes in New Guinean passerines

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Author(s)
Donaghey, Richard
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2015
Metadata
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The fantail species of Australasia typically build a compact cup-shaped nest of vegetable fibre bound externally with spider web, with a ‘tail’ extending from the base. The discovery of an active Dimorphic Fantail Rhipidura brachyrhyncha nest in montane Papua New Guinea revealed an atypical nest externally composed of moss, but without a ‘tail’. The coloration and size of the egg were similar to those of other Australasian fantails. A clutch-size of one in montane fantail species and usually two in lowland species contributes toward an understanding that clutch-size decreases with altitude in many open-cup-nesting New Guinean ...
View more >The fantail species of Australasia typically build a compact cup-shaped nest of vegetable fibre bound externally with spider web, with a ‘tail’ extending from the base. The discovery of an active Dimorphic Fantail Rhipidura brachyrhyncha nest in montane Papua New Guinea revealed an atypical nest externally composed of moss, but without a ‘tail’. The coloration and size of the egg were similar to those of other Australasian fantails. A clutch-size of one in montane fantail species and usually two in lowland species contributes toward an understanding that clutch-size decreases with altitude in many open-cup-nesting New Guinean fantails, monarchs, robins, honeyeaters and birds-of-paradise but not in bowerbirds, Myzomela and Meliphaga honeyeaters, berrypeckers, jewel-babblers, woodswallows and whistlers.
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View more >The fantail species of Australasia typically build a compact cup-shaped nest of vegetable fibre bound externally with spider web, with a ‘tail’ extending from the base. The discovery of an active Dimorphic Fantail Rhipidura brachyrhyncha nest in montane Papua New Guinea revealed an atypical nest externally composed of moss, but without a ‘tail’. The coloration and size of the egg were similar to those of other Australasian fantails. A clutch-size of one in montane fantail species and usually two in lowland species contributes toward an understanding that clutch-size decreases with altitude in many open-cup-nesting New Guinean fantails, monarchs, robins, honeyeaters and birds-of-paradise but not in bowerbirds, Myzomela and Meliphaga honeyeaters, berrypeckers, jewel-babblers, woodswallows and whistlers.
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Journal Title
Australian Field Ornithology
Volume
32
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2015. The attached file is reproduced here in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. For information about this journal please refer to the journal’s website or contact the author[s].
Subject
Zoology not elsewhere classified
Zoology