A cheerful little creature that flutters about shyly, it’s known for its beautiful tail feathers that fan out, but take a look at its eyebrows which give each one's face so much personality.

You won’t get the Fantail visiting your feeder as they live off live insects that they catch on the wing, they can be seen darting about trees and shrubs on the hunt. But they may come down to a birdbath for a dip or to bathe in the spray of a garden hose. If you’re lucky you may get a pair nesting nearby in their neat cup-shaped nest wrapped in spiders webs.

What do Fantails eat?

Fantails eat live insects they catch on the wing, so as you can’t feed Fantails one of the best ways to support them is to support insect-friendly plants and let leaf litter accumulate.  This will support biodiversity in your area and in turn help the happy Fantail to prosper. Another option is to provide a birdbath as they love to splash about in the water.

Help the native NZ birds you kohabit with thrive.

Here in New Zealand, we kohabit with some amazing birds, so what better way to enjoy them than by inviting them into our gardens and giving them a nutritious snack. And that’s what Kohab is all about, enjoying the creatures we kohabit our NZ gardens with while supporting them so they can thrive. Find out how you can help support them.

Support the creatures you kohabit with: