African Paradise-Flycatcher
Terpsiphone viridis
This remarkable flycatcher occurs in both rufous and white morphs, but it always has grayish underparts and a strong crest. The breeding male has ludicrous central tail feathers, twenty centimeters long, that trail like the ribbon of a rhythmic gymnast, while the female lacks the tail streamers and has a smaller crest. Singles and pairs occasionally join flocks in open woodland, riverine forest, and thickets, avoiding lowland evergreen forest. Very vocal, often giving a repeated grating “dzee-zwee” call and a sweet melodic “willie-willie-willie-wee-wooo” song. The very similar Rufous-vented Paradise-Flycatcher differs from African Paradise-Flycatcher by having a rufous undertail and a shorter crest.
Identification
The adult male African paradise flycatcher is about 17 cm (6.7 in) long, but the very long tail streamers double this. It has a black head, neck and underparts, and chestnut wings and tail. There is a prominent white wingbar. The female has a browner tint to the underparts and lacks the wingbar and tail streamers. Young birds are similar to the female but duller.<p>The males show considerable variation in plumage in some areas. There is a morph of this species in which the male has the chestnut parts of the plumage replaced by white, and some races have black tail streamers.<p>This species readily hybridizes with the genetically similar Rufous-vented paradise flycatcher. The red-bellied paradise flycatcher is also closely related to this species, and hybrids occur with the underparts a mixture of black and red.
Taxonomy
The African paradise flycatcher was originally described in the genus Muscicapa. Alternate names include the grey-headed paradise flycatcher, red-winged paradise-flycatcher and Southern paradise-flycatcher.<p>Ten subspecies are recognized:
- Scientific name
- Terpsiphone viridis
- Authority
- (Müller, PLS, 1776)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Monarchidae
- Genus
- Terpsiphone
Range and habitat
The African paradise flycatcher is found in most parts of Africa south of the Sahara Desert and also the Arabian Peninsula. Its typical habitat is savannah woodland, open grassland with isolated trees, plantations, open woodland and scrubland.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Green-winged Saltator
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