From Opus

Rufous Morph
Photo by rudydbn
Durban Botanical Gardens, South Africa, September 2004

Terpsiphone viridis

[edit] Identification

17cm with 17cm long tail streamers.
Male - black head, neck and underparts, chestnut wings and tail, white wingbar.
Female - browner tint to the underparts, no wingbar and no tail streamers.
Young birds are similar to the female but duller.

The male African Paradise Flycatcher comes in two distinct forms a rufous morph and a white morph. They may even change colour from rufous to white and can sometimes be seen part way through the change with a mixture of white and rufous feathers. The dark head and blue eye are common to both forms. The female always retains the rufous colouring.

[edit] Distribution

Widespread throughout Africa (south of the Sahara Desert) and the Middle East
Western Africa: Mauritania, Senegambia, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Angola
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, Swaziland
Middle East: Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman

Female
Photo by Steve G
Mandina Lodges, Makasutu, The Gambia, March 2005

[edit] Taxonomy

Several subspecies.^[1]

• T. v. viridis:

• Senegal and Gambia to Sierra Leone

• T. v. speciosa:

• Southern Cameroon to eastern Zaire, southern Sudan and Gabon

• T. v. ferreti:

• Mali and Ivory Coast to north-eastern Zaire, Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania

• T. v. restricta:

• Lake Victoria region of western Kenya and Uganda

• T. v. kivuensis:

• South-western Uganda to eastern Zaire, Rwanda, Burundi and north-western Tanzania

• T. v. suahelica:

• Highlands of western Kenya and Tanzania

• T. v. ungujaensis:

• Eastern Tanzania to Zambia; Zanzibar, Pemba Island and Mafia Island

• T. v. plumbeiceps:

• Southern Angola to western Zaire, south-western Tanzania and north-eastern South Africa

• T. v. granti:

• Natal to south-western Cape Province; winters to southern Tanzania

• T. v. harterti:

• Southern Arabian peninsula

White Morph, young male
Photo by Steve G
Arabuko-Sokoke forest, coastal Kenya, August 2007

[edit] Habitat

Evergreen, coastal and riverine forests.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Breeding

2-3 eggs are laid in a tiny cup nest in a tree.

[edit] Diet

The diet includes insects.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. Avibase
3. Wikipedia

• List of references

[edit] External Links