Rhipidura rufifrons kubaryi Finsch
Rufous-fronted Fantail
Rhipidura kubaryi Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1875 (1876), p. 644. (Type locality, Ponapé.)
Rhipidura kubaryi Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12. 1876, pp. 17, 29, pl. 2, fig. 2 (Ponapé); idem, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1877 (1878), p. 779 (Ponapé); Nehrkorn, Journ. f. Ornith., 1879, p. 403 (Ponapé); Finsch, Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, p. 289 (Ponapé); idem, Ibis, 1881, pp. 110, 112, 115 (Ponapé); Schmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 281 (Ponapé); Tristram, Cat. Birds, 1889, p. 198 (Ponapé); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 20 (Ponapé); Büttikofer, Notes Leyden Mus., 15, 1893, p. 76 (Ponapé); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, pp. 112, 113 (Ponapé); Dubois, Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 277 (Ponapé); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, pp. 54, 64 (Ponapé); Wetmore, in Townsend and Wetmore, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 63, 1919, p. 204 (Ponapé); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 65 (Ponapé); Yamashina, Tori, 7, 1932, p. 403 (Ponapé); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 176 (Ponapé); Mayr, Proc. 6th Pacific Sci. Congr., 4, 1941, p. 204 (Ponapé); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 196 (Ponapé).
Rhipidura kubarii Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 4, 1879, p. 314 (Ponapé); Bolau, Mitteil. Naturhist. Mus. Hamburg, 1898, p. 55 (Ponapé).
Rhipdura rufifrons kubaryi Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 295 (Ponapé); Mayr and Moynihan, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1321, 1946, pp. 3, 6, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16 (Ponapé).
Geographic range.—Micronesia: Caroline Islands—Ponapé.
Characters.—Adult: Upper parts smoky olivaceous-brown, less smoky on rump and upper tail-coverts; anterior forehead and supraloral region narrowly edged with white; lores and orbital ring black; auriculars brown; feathers of chin and malar region tipped with white; rest of chin and throat black, lower feathers of throat edged with white; abdomen dark olivaceous-brown with whitish mid-portion anteriorily; sides and under tail-coverts ashy, the latter broadly tipped with white; wings and tail dark, tail tipped with white and outer rectrices more broadly so; axillaries and under wing-coverts gray, broadly tipped with white; bill and feet black, mandible basally whitish; iris dark brown.
R. r. kubaryi resembles R. r. uraniae, but larger; lacking rufous coloring; smaller and shorter, white malar stripe; white on chin reduced.
Measurements.—Measurements are listed in [table 38].
Specimens examined.—Total number, 40 (24 males, 15 females, 1 unsexed), as follows: Caroline Islands, USNM—Ponapé, 1 (Feb. 12); AMNH—Ponapé, 39 (Nov., Dec.).
Nesting.—Yamashina (1932a:403) records nests containing one or two eggs taken at Ponapé in 1931 on the following dates: July 11, August 2, 14, 19, 22, 30. Coultas (field notes) obtained reports that the eggs are two in number and laid in a cup-shaped nest of grass and fern, which is placed near the ground.
Molt.—Many of the specimens examined that were taken in November and December are in fresh or slightly worn plumage. Only a few are molting. Apparently molt occurs earlier, perhaps beginning in August and continuing until October or November.
Remarks.—Coultas obtained a large series of these birds at Ponapé in 1931. He writes (field notes) that the fantail is a common bird and is found in forest and brush lands. This bird has a nervous behavior similar to that of other fantails and is constantly "wagging its long tail." Coultas describes it as an aggressive bird, chasing honey-eaters and white-eyes.