White-browed Fantail

The white-browed fantail is a small, lively songbird about 18 cm long. Adults have dark brown upperparts, whitish underparts, white spots on the wings and a fan-shaped dark tail edged white. Long white eyebrows meet across the forehead above a blackish eye-mask and throat, while pale moustachial stripes frame the face. Frequent spreading and twisting of the tail creates its characteristic silhouette as the bird moves through low branches (Wikipedia, general species account, citing Grimmett et al.).

It breeds from eastern Pakistan across the Indian subcontinent to southern Indochina, using forest and other woodland. Birds are insectivorous and forage actively through the understorey, fanning the tail while changing direction and making short pursuits after prey. A small cup nest is attached to a tree branch and contains three eggs. The bold white forehead line, dark breast area and broadly fanned, white-edged tail distinguish it from other regional fantails (Wikipedia, general species account, citing Grimmett et al.).