The New Zealand Fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa) or Piwakawaka (Maori) is well known for its friendly 'cheet cheet' call and energetic flying antics. The aptly named fantail is one of the most common and widely distributed native birds on the New Zealand mainland. During waking hours the bird is almost never still as it flits from perch to perch, sometimes on the ground but mostly on the twigs of a tree or any other convenient object, looking out for flying insects.

In Māori mythology the fantail 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-nuite- po, who was so angry that she promptly killed Maui.