Bates's Paradise-Flycatcher
Terpsiphone batesi
Both sexes show a dark gray head and underparts with a rufous back, tail, and undertail. Tail is usually short, but males in the southwest part of the range can sport very long central tail feathers. Both sexes have a blue bill and ring around the eye. Found in lowland rainforest and swamp forest. A restless, active bird of middle levels of the forest. Similar to Rufous-vented Paradise-Flycatcher, but has a paler gray head without a crest, and usually has a shorter tail. Can be similar to African Paradise-Flycatcher, but distinguished by the rufous undertail and lack of a crest. Call is a series of tearing “shreet” notes, and song is a fast, bubbling series of “twee” notes.
Identification
Bates's paradise flycatcher is usually 18 centimetres long but males in parts of Cameroon and Angola have elongated central tail-feathers making them 23-28 centimetres long. The head and underparts are blue-grey while the upperparts are rufous. The sexes are similar in coloration. The song is a series of ringing "tswee" notes.<p>The rufous-vented paradise flycatcher is similar in appearance but has a darker head with a crest and males always have elongated central tail-feathers.
Taxonomy
Its name commemorates the American ornithologist George Latimer Bates. Bates's paradise flycatcher was formerly considered as a subspecies of the rufous-vented paradise flycatcher but is now recognized as a separate species. An alternate name is the Cameroon rufous-vented paradise-flycatcher.<p>There are two subspecies recognized:
- Scientific name
- Terpsiphone batesi
- Authority
- Chapin, 1921
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Monarchidae
- Genus
- Terpsiphone
Range and habitat
It inhabits the understorey of forests. It occurs from Cameroon and the south-western Central African Republic through Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo and much of the Democratic Republic of the Congo south as far as north-west Angola.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
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