- Terpsiphone viridis
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 (pictured above) 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.
Distribution
Africa south of the Sahara Desert.
Taxonomy
There are two subspecies; T. v. viridis and T. v. plumbeiceps.
Habitat
Evergreen, coastal and riverine forests.
Behaviour
2-3 eggs are laid in a tiny cup nest in a tree.
The diet includes insects.
