African Crested Flycatcher
Trochocercus cyanomelas
Small, slim, crested member of the monarch family. The male has a black hood, a large crest, and a variable white patch in the wing. The female is plainer and greyer, with a reduced crest and less white in the wing. Found in the midstory of forest, from low to high elevations. Restless bird that often joins mixed feeding flocks. Call is a zinging “zree-zre-zre”. Song is a long, musical series of hollow notes. The very pale underparts and white mark on the wing are separate it from other crested-flycatchers.
Identification
Small, slim, crested member of the monarch family. The male has a black hood, a large crest, and a variable white patch in the wing. The female is plainer and greyer, with a reduced crest and less white in the wing. Found in the midstory of forest, from low to high elevations. Restless bird that often joins mixed feeding flocks. Call is a zinging “zree-zre-zre”. Song is a long, musical series of hollow notes. The very pale underparts and white mark on the wing are separate it from other crested-flycatchers.
Taxonomy
The blue-mantled crested flycatcher was originally described in the genus Muscicapa and some authorities have also classified it in the genus Terpsiphone. Alternate names for the blue-mantled crested flycatcher include blue-mantled flycatcher, blue-mantled paradise-flycatcher, Cape crested-flycatcher and crested flycatcher.<p>Five subspecies are recognized:
- Scientific name
- Trochocercus cyanomelas
- Authority
- (Vieillot, 1818)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Monarchidae
- Genus
- Trochocercus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Bird Calls
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