African paradise flycatcher
| African paradise flycatcher | |
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| male, brown morph | |
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| male, white morph | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Monarchidae |
| Genus: | Terpsiphone |
| Species: | T. viridis |
| Binomial name | |
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Terpsiphone viridis (Müller, 1776) |
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| Subspecies | |
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See text |
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| Synonyms | |
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See text
The African paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone viridis) is a medium-sized passerine bird with a very long tail. It is a common resident breeder in Africa south of the Sahara Desert. The male is boldly coloured in chestnut and black and the female is rather more drab. This bird feeds mainly on insects and builds a tiny cup nest in a tree where two or three eggs are laid. This species is usually found in open forests and savannah habitats and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed it as being of "least concern".
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.
Ten subspecies are recognized:
The adult male African paradise flycatcher is about 17 cm 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.
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.
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.
With a butterfly catch
Masai Mara
female rufous morph, Soysambu Conservancy, Kenya
female rufous morph, Soysambu Conservancy, Kenya
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Wikipedia