NZ Fantail

The fantail is one of New Zealand’s best known native birds is distinctive for its fanned tail, loud song and because of it's friendly nature approaching within a metre of people. The fantail is widespread throughout New Zealand and its offshore islands, including the Chatham Islands and Snares Islands. It is common in most regions of the country, except in the dry, open country of inland Marlborough and Central Otago, where frosts and snow falls are too harsh for the bird. The Grey Fantail is found throughout Australia and occasionally visits densely-planted urban gardens, particularly during the winter migration. Often making use of eucalyptus trees.  It can also be found in New Caledonia.   

The fantail is also known as the pied fantail or by its Maori name, Pīwakawaka.  In Māori mythology the piwakawaka is a messenger, bringing death or news of death from the gods to the people and was responsible for the presence of death in the world. Maui, thinking he could eradicate death by successfully passing through the goddess of death, Hine-nui-te-po, tried to enter the goddess’s sleeping body through the pathway of birth. The fantail, warned by Maui to be quiet, began laughing and woke Hine-nui-te-po, who was so angry that she promptly killed Maui. The bulbous eyes and erratic flying behavior of the bird is attributed to it being squeezed by Maui for not revealing the whereabouts of his ancestress Mahiuka, the fire deity. 

Measures: 63cm long x 51cm tall