Rhipidura rufifrons uraniae Oustalet
Rufous-fronted Fantail
Rhipidura Uraniae Oustalet, Bull. Soc. Philom. Paris, (7), 5, 1881, p. 76. (Type locality, Mariannes = Guam.)
Rhipidura pectoralis Gray, Cat. Birds Trop. Is. Pacific Ocean, 1859, p. 17 (Ladrone or Marian Is. = Guam).
Rhipidura uraniae Reichenow and Schlow, Journ. f. Ornith., 1884, p. 398 (Mariannes = Guam); Hartert, Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 53 (Guam); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 20 (Marianne = Guam); Büttikofer, Notes Leyden Mus., 15, 1893, p. 76 (Guam); Wheeler, Report Island of Guam, 1900, p. 13 (Guam); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, pp. 112, 113 (Guam); Seale, Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 1, 1901, p. 48 (Guam); Safford, Osprey, 1902, p. 69 (Guam); Dubois, Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 277 (Guam); Safford, The Plant World, 7, 1904, p. 263 (Guam); idem, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb., 9, 1905, p. 79 (Guam); Mearns, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 36, 1909, p. 477 (Guam); Schnee, Zeitschr. f. Naturwisch., 82, 1910, p. 464 (Marianen = Guam); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p. 267 (Marianen = Guam); Cox, Island of Guam, 1917, p. 21 (Guam); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 65 (Guam); Bryan, Guam Rec., vol. 13, no. 2, 1936, p. 25 (Guam).
Rhipidura atrigularis Reichenow, Journ. f. Ornith., 1885, p. 110 (Type locality, Palau, error = Guam); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 21 (Pelew, error = Guam); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 63 (Marianne = Guam).
Rhipidura versicolor Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 190 (Guam).
Rhipidura rufifrons uraniae Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 490 (Marianne = Guam); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 176 (Guam); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 195 (Guam); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 295 (Guam); Watson, The Raven, 17, 1946, p. 42 (Guam); Mayr and Moynihan, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1321, 1946, pp. 3, 9 (Guam); Baker, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 59, 1946, p. 77 (Guam); idem, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 67 (Guam).
Rhipidura rufifrons Wharton, Ecol. Monogr., 16, 1948, p. 174 (Guam); Strophlet, Auk, 1946, p. 339 (Guam).
Geographic range.—Micronesia: Mariana Islands—Guam.
Characters.—Adult: Forehead and anterior crown near "cinnamon-buff"; lores and orbital ring black, auriculars more brownish than lores; malar stripe white; a few feathers in posterior malar region tipped with "citrine drab"; anterior part of chin white; posterior part of chin, throat, and upper breast black; feathers on breast edged with white; lower breast, abdomen, sides, flanks, tibia, vent, and under tail-coverts near "royal brown," becoming lighter on breast and more rufous on under tail-coverts; sides of neck and back near "Dresden brown," becoming grayer on neck and crown where feathers have darker shafts; rump and upper tail-coverts near "orange rufous"; basal half of tail slightly lighter than rump; terminal part of tail black, tipped with white; wings dark edged with coloring like back; under wing grayish with axillaries tipped with buffy-white; bill black with base of upper mandible lighter; feet dark brown; iris dark brown.
Immature: Resembles adult, but head, neck, scapulars, and secondaries edged with rufous; feathers of chin and throat edged with whitish. Younger birds may have less rufous on head but feathers of body more rufous with creamy edges.
Measurements.—Measurements are listed in [table 38].
Table 38. Measurements of Rhipidura rufifrons in Micronesia
Table 38. Measurements of Rhipidura rufifrons in Micronesia
| Subspecies | Number and sex | Wing | Tail | Exposed culmen | Tarsus |
| R. r. uraniae | 11 males | 66 | 78 | 13.6 | 16.6 |
| (64-69) | (75-82) | (13.1-14.5) | (15.6-17.2) | ||
6 females | 65 | 76 | 12.3 | 16.8 | |
| (61-68) | (73-81) | (11.6-12.5) | (16.1-17.6) | ||
| R. r. saipanensis | 7 males | 68 | 81 | 13.3 | 17.3 |
| (68-69) | (80-83) | (13.0-13.5) | (16.2-18.4) | ||
6 females | 64 | 76 | 12.7 | 17.9 | |
| (62-66) | (72-81) | (12.4-13.4) | (17.2-18.1) | ||
| R. r. mariae | 2 males | 65, 67 | 82, 82 | 12.1, 12.4 | 17.1, 17.2 |
| R. r. kubaryi | 14 males | 77 | 88 | 14.4 | 20.0 |
| (75-79) | (82-95) | (13.6-15.0) | (19.0-21.0) | ||
10 females | 72 | 87 | 14.5 | 20.0 | |
| (69-75) | (83-90) | (14.0-15.0) | (20.0-20.5) |
Weights.—The NAMRU2 party recorded the weights of nine males as 9.0-10.0 (9.0); of three females as 7.2-9.6 (8.8) grams.
Specimens examined.—Total number, 41 (19 males, 14 females, 8 unsexed), as follows: Mariana Islands, USNM—Guam, 17 (May 29, 30, June 6, 14, 18, July 12, 20); AMNH—Guam, 24 (Jan., Feb., March, Aug., Sept., Dec.).
Nesting.—Hartert (1898:54) recorded nests taken at Guam in February and March.
Molt.—On the basis of specimens examined, it is apparent that molt begins in August or September and continues through the months of the fall.
Parasites.—Wharton (1946:174) obtained the chigger (Acarina), Trombicula sp., from this bird at Guam.
Remarks.—The Rufous-fronted Fantail at Guam is a bird of the forest and forest scrub. It prefers the areas where leafy undergrowth is present. It moves rapidly about continually fluttering its wings and spreading its long fanlike tail. The birds are usually observed in pairs. On January 21, 1945, E. W. Coleman of the NAMRU2 party killed a fantail but before he could retrieve it, a large toad (Bufo marinus) seized the fallen bird and carried it into a hole in the ground.