African Paradise-Flycatcher
Terpsiphone viridis
Woodland and suburbia. Deep blue-grey crested head grades to grey breast; upperparts and tail chestnut-brown; orbital ring and bill blue.
Batises, Small Flycatchers
LC
Not Endemic
Description
Common summer resident, present all year in the east and northeast. Unmistakable with orange-brown upper parts, blue eye-wattle and bill and, in male, ribbon-like central tail feathers. Some females have slightly elongated tails. The call, a sharp ‘zwee-zwer’, is virtually identical to that of [Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher]; the song is a lively trill ‘wee-te-tiddly, wit-wit’. A highly active and vociferous little bird found among large trees along rivers, forest fringes, well-wooded hills and suburbia.
Quick Facts
Size
23 cm female, 41cm male M
Names
A: Paradysvlieëvanger
Z: iNzwece
Ss: Kapantsi-Ya-Meru
G: Paradiesschnäpper
Bird Family
Small leaf-gleaning flycatchers of similar appearance, characterised by grey caps and upperparts, black masks, black or rufous breast-bands and varying amounts of rufous coloration elsewhere. Immatures are dull versions of the adults. They are often found in bird parties. When alarmed they fly about with whirring wings.
Distribution
Gallery
Behaviour
Breeding
Habitat
A highly active and vociferous little bird found among large trees along rivers, 'forest' fringes, well-wooded hills and suburbia.
