White-spotted Fantail   Rhipidura albogularis 

Etymology:

• Rhipidura : Greek word rhipis-fan;  ouros –tailed  { Fan tailed}

• Albogularis : Latin word Albi – white ; Gulla – Throat { White throated}

Vernacular Names : Mar: Pandhrya Kanthachi Nachan 

Sub Species :

1. Nominate – Peninsular India (South from Rajasthan and Gangetic Plain to South India).
2. a. vernayi – East India (South Odisha, North East Andhra Pradesh) {breastband broader, with spotting reduced or absent, less extensive and darker buff on belly} 

Distribution in India:

1. Nominate – Peninsular India (South from Rajasthan and Gangetic Plain to South India).
2. a. vernayi – East India (South Odisha, North East Andhra Pradesh

Description: Size of 14·5–17 cm. wt. of 10–13 g. The nominate race has upperparts as slaty brown, supercilium is white. The wings are slaty grey; tail is slaty, two central pairs of rectrices are unmarked, remaining rectrices are with narrow pale buff tips. The chin is black, throat is white, breastband is dark slate grey with white spots, remainder of underparts are creamy white to pale creamy buff. The iris is dark brown, bill is black, feet is slaty brown. Both the sexes are alike. The juvenile is like adults, but wing-coverts tipped with dull rufous. Race vernayi has broader breastband, with spotting reduced or absent and has less extensive and darker buff on belly.

Habitat: It is found in wooded habitats, including secondary forest and parks, garden. It is found from sea-level up to 2000 m.

Food habits: It eats small flying insects. It forages in undergrowth, lower and middle storeys, occasionally into canopy. The insects are captured in air by flycatching. It is found in mixed-species foraging flocks, moving along edges of such groups.

Breeding habits: They breed in Mar–July. The nest is built by both sexes. The nest is a small neat cup of moss, grass, shreds of leaves, etc., bound with external coat of spider web, lined with fine grasses, short untidy “tail” dangling from bottom; placed above ground in horizontal fork or attached to thin twigs of bushes. They lay a clutch of 2–4 eggs. The incubation is done by both sexes. The incubation period  is 12–13 days.