FORKTAIL

any of seven birds of the Asian, chiefly Himalayan, genus Enicurus. Forktails usually are placed among chat-thrushes in the family Turdidae, but some authorities consider them a separate family, Enicuridae (order Passeriformes). Forktails pick insects from stones along mountain streams and have loud whistling calls. Most are strikingly patterned in black and white and have deeply forked tails, which they sway up and down. Six of the species are long-tailed and about 28 centimetres (11 inches) in length; examples are the spotted forktail (E. maculatus) and the black-backed forktail (E. immaculatus), both ranging to Indochina. The little forktail (E. scouleri), ranging to Taiwan, has a shorter tail than the other species.