Black Paradise-Flycatcher
Terpsiphone atrocaudata
Graceful songbird of well-shaded forests, particularly stream gullies; often in more open habitat in migration. Stunning breeding male purplish-black above and white below, with a short crest, neon-blue eyerings, and long black tail streamers. Female and non-breeding male have dark gray head and chest, paler eyering, shorter crest, and chestnut-brown wings and tail, without streamers. Compare with female and non-breeding male Amur and Blyth’s paradise-flycatchers, with which Black overlaps on its Southeast Asian wintering grounds. Note Black’s contiguous dark gray throat and chest (Amur has a more sharply-demarcated black throat and gray chest), dull darkish wings (Blyth’s has brighter rufous wings), and fairly clean demarcation between gray breast and white belly (Blyth’s has a more gradual fade). Song a run-on series of coarse whistles; call a rough, nasal “bee.”
Identification
The black paradise flycatcher is similar in appearance to both the Amur paradise flycatcher and Blyth's paradise flycatcher, but is slightly smaller. Mature males have a black hood with a purplish-blue gloss which shades into blackish-grey on the chest. The underparts are off-white to white. The mantle, back, wings and rump are plain dark chestnut. The tail has extremely long black central feathers, which are shorter in immature males. Unlike the Asian paradise flycatcher there is no white morph. The female resembles the male but is duller and darker brown on the chestnut areas. It has black legs and feet, a large black eye with a blue eye-ring, and a short blue bill.<p>The song is rendered in Japanese as tsuki-hi-hoshi, hoi-hoi-hoi, which translates to Moon-Sun-Stars and gives the Japanese name of the bird サンコウチョウ (三光鳥) sankōchō (literally, bird of three lights, i.e. moon, sun, star, from san three + kō lights + chō bird).
Taxonomy
The black paradise flycatcher was previously classified with the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, but the paradise-flycatchers, monarch flycatchers and Australasian fantails are now normally grouped with the drongos in the family Dicruridae, which has most of its members in Australasia and tropical southern Asia.<p>Three subspecies are recognized:
- Scientific name
- Terpsiphone atrocaudata
- Authority
- (Eyton, 1839)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Monarchidae
- Genus
- Terpsiphone
Range and habitat
In Jeju-do of South Korea, Gotjawal Forest, a forest formed on a rocky area of volcanic AA Lava, is one of the important breeding sites of black paradise flycatcher<p>A recent survey detected a steep decline in part of the Japanese breeding population which has presumably occurred because of forest loss and degradation in its winter range. [citation needed]
- Breeding range
- PAL : e, also far n Philippines
- Non-breeding range
- se Asia and Philippines
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Nesoptilotis flavicollis
Medium-large honeyeater with bright yellow throat. Back is olive green, head and breast are gray. Underbody and wings have subtle yellow coloration. Juveniles very similar to adults but are duller and have yellow at the base of the bill. Endemic to Tasmania and some surrounding islands; found in most forest and woodland habitats. Feeds primarily on insects and can often be seen foraging on tree trunks.
Leach's Storm-Petrel
Hydrobates leucorhous
Fairly large, long-winged storm-petrel with deeply notched tail. Complex and subtle variation across extensive range. Typical flight style is somewhat bat-like: bounding with jolting twists and turns. Plumage looks chocolatey-brown in good light; paler than Wilson's or Band-rumped Storm-Petrel and with more extensive buffy bar on upperwing. Rump color is variable; birds in the Atlantic have a mostly white rump, usually with a thin dark line down the center. Pacific birds are more variable, sometimes completely dark-rumped, especially "Chapman's" Storm-Petrel (southern California to South America). Occurs in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, mainly in the Northern Hemisphere. Fairly common but stays far offshore; rarely seen from land. Compare especially with Band-rumped Storm-Petrel; on Leach's, look for more obvious pale upperwing bar, more deeply notched tail, and bounding flight style.
California Scrub-Jay
Aphelocoma californica
Attractive jay of oak woodlands, dry scrublands, and mixed pine-oak. Royal blue above with gray-brown back and light grayish underparts. Flight style is often distinctive, a series of quick wingbeats followed by a stiff glide. Typically in small groups. Listen for scratchy, nasal calls. Regularly visits backyards and feeders. Most similar to Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay (and once considered the same species), but usually separable by range. Also note California Scrub-Jay is darker and more richly colored, with a more obvious blue breast band.
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