Feeding Association between Fantails and Saddlebacks - Who Benefits

A feeding association between two New Zealand passerine birds, saddlebacks (Philesturnus carunculatus, Callaeidae), and fantails (Rhipidura fuliginosa, Muscicapidae) is described. Saddlebacks are poor fliers, give loud vocalisations, and feed noisily. These characteristics allow fantails to find saddlebacks and to capture insects disturbed by the saddleback's activity. Fantails follow at a distance of about 50 cm, and tend to remain behind and below the saddleback. Fantails use different feeding sites when feeding in association with saddlebacks than they use when feeding alone.