Indian paradise flycatcher

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Indian paradise flycatcher
Terpsiphone paradisi -near Amaya Lake, Dambulla, Sri Lanka-8.jpg
Adult male
Asian Paradise-flycatcher (Female).jpg
Female
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Monarchidae
Genus: Terpsiphone
Species:
T. paradisi
Binomial name
Terpsiphone paradisi
Subspecies

See text

Synonyms
  • Muscicapa paradisiLinnaeus, 1766,
  • Corvus paradisiLinnaeus, 1758
  • Tchitrea paradisi(Linnaeus, 1758)
Indian paradise flycatcher from Dhaka Paradise01.jpg
Indian paradise flycatcher from Dhaka

The Indian paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi) is a medium-sized passerine bird native to Asia, where it is widely distributed. As the global population is considered stable, it has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2004. It is native to the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia and Myanmar. [1]

Contents

Males have elongated central tail feathers, and a black and rufous plumage in some populations, while others have white plumage. Females are short-tailed with rufous wings and a black head. [2] Indian paradise flycatchers feed on insects, which they capture in the air often below a densely canopied tree.

Taxonomy

Corvus paradisi was the scientific name proposed by Linnaeus in 1758. [3] Paradise-flycatchers used to be classified with the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, but are now placed in the family Monarchidae together with monarch flycatchers. [4] [5]

Until 2015, the Indian paradise flycatcher, Blyth's paradise flycatcher, and the Amur paradise flycatcher were all considered conspecific, and together called Asian paradise flycatcher. [6]

Subspecies

Sub-adult male Himalayan paradise flycatcher in Ranthambhore National Park, Rajasthan Asian Paradise Flycatcher.jpg
Sub-adult male Himalayan paradise flycatcher in Ranthambhore National Park, Rajasthan

Linnaeus thought that the Indian paradise flycatcher occurred only in India. [3] Later, ornithologists observed it in other areas and described several subspecies based on differences in plumage of males. Three subspecies] are recognized: [6]

Description

Female Indian Paradise flycatcher in Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, Chandrapur, Maharashtra, guarding its nest on a bamboo twig Indian Paradise Flycatcher - Female - TATR.jpg
Female Indian Paradise flycatcher in Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, Chandrapur, Maharashtra, guarding its nest on a bamboo twig

Adult Indian paradise flycatchers are 19–22 cm (7.5–8.7 in) long. Their heads are glossy black with a black crown and crest, their black bill round and sturdy, and their eyes black. Females are rufous on the back with a greyish throat and underparts. Their wings are 86–92 mm (3.4–3.6 in) long. Young males look very much like females but have a black throat and blue-ringed eyes. As adults, they develop up to 24 cm (9.4 in) long tail feathers with two central tail feathers growing up to 30 cm (12 in) long drooping streamers.

Young males are rufous and have short tails. They acquire long tails in their second or third year. Adult males are either predominantly bright rufous above or predominantly white. Some specimens show some degree of intermediacy between rufous and white. Long-tailed rufous birds are generally devoid of shaft streaks on the wing and tail feathers, while in white birds the shaft streaks, and sometimes the edges of the wing and tail feathers are black. [2]

In the early 1960s, 680 long-tailed males were examined that are contained in collections of the British Museum of Natural History, Chicago Natural History Museum, Peabody Museum, Carnegie Museum, American Museum of Natural History, United States National Museum, and Royal Ontario Museum. The specimens came from almost the entire range of the species, though some areas were poorly represented. The relative frequency of the rufous and white plumage types varies geographically. Rufous birds are rare in the extreme southeastern part of the species' range. Throughout the Indian area and, to a lesser extent, in China, asymmetrically patterned intermediates occur. Intermediates are rare or absent throughout the rest of the range of the species. In general, long-tailed males are [2]

Possible interpretations of this phenomenon are: males may be polymorphic for rufous and white plumage colour; rufous birds may be sub-adults; and there may even be two sympatric species distinguishable only in the male. [2]

Distribution and habitat

Adult male Indian paradise flycatcher in Pannipitiya, Sri Lanka Indian paradise flycatcher (male) - Sri Lanka - 01.jpg
Adult male Indian paradise flycatcher in Pannipitiya, Sri Lanka

The Indian paradise flycatcher is a migratory bird and spends the winter season in tropical Asia. In southern India and Sri Lanka especially the highlands and western parts of Sri Lanka, both locally breeding populations and visiting migrants occur in winter. [8] [9]

Behaviour and ecology

Female leucogaster on nest Asian Paradise Flycatcher- Female at nest in Himachal I IMG 3022.jpg
Female leucogaster on nest
Sub-adult male on nest in Andhra Pradesh Asian Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi)- male at nest W IMG 9261.jpg
Sub-adult male on nest in Andhra Pradesh

Indian paradise flycatcher's breeding season lasts from May to July. [10] Being socially monogamous, both males and females take part in nest-building, incubation, brooding, and feeding of the young. The incubation period lasts 14 to 16 days and the nestling period 9 to 12 days. [11] The nest is sometimes built in the vicinity of a breeding pair of drongos, which keep predators away. [12] The female lays up to four eggs in a neat cup nest made with twigs and spider webs on the end of a low branch. Chicks hatch in about 21 to 23 days. [7] A case of interspecific feeding has been noted with paradise flycatcher chicks fed by Indian white-eyes. [13]

In culture

This bird is the state bird of Madhya Pradesh and is referred to as Doodhraj locally, [14]

This bird is mentioned in Satyajit Ray's Feluda detective stories Chinnamastar Abhishap and Jahangirer Swarnamudra.[ citation needed ]

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References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2019). "Terpsiphone paradisi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2019: e.T103715992A155628184. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T103715992A155628184.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Owen, D. F. (1963). "The rufous and white forms of an Asiatic paradise flycatcher, Terpsiphone paradisi" (PDF). Ardea. 51: 230–236. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-24.
  3. 1 2 Linnaeus, C. (1758). "Corvus paradisi". Caroli Linnæi Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Vol. Tomus I (decima, reformata ed.). Holmiae: Laurentius Salvius. p. 107.
  4. Pasquet, É.; Cibois, A.; Baillon, F.; Érard, C. (2002). "What are African monarchs (Aves, Passeriformes)? A phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial genes". Comptes Rendus Biologies. 325 (2): 107–118. doi:10.1016/S1631-0691(02)01409-9. PMID   11980172.
  5. Lei Xin; Lian Zhen-Min; Lei Fu-Min; Yin Zuo-Hua; Zhao Hong-Feng (2007). "Phylogeny of some Muscicapinae birds based on cyt b mitochondrial gene sequences". Acta Zoologica Sinica. 53 (1): 95.
  6. 1 2 Gill, F. B.; D. B. Donsker (eds.). "IOC World Bird". IOC World Bird List. doi: 10.14344/ioc.ml.6.4 .
  7. 1 2 3 Rasmussen, P. C.; Anderton, J. C. (2005). Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Vol.2. Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. pp. 332–333.
  8. Whistler, H. (1933). "The migration of the Paradise Flycatcher, (Tchitrea paradisi)". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 36 (2): 498–499.
  9. Bates, R. S. P. (1932). "Migration of the Paradise Flycatcher Tchitrea paradisi". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 35 (4): 896–897.
  10. Hume, A.O. (1890). The nests and eggs of Indian birds. Volume 2. London: R. H. Porter. pp. 22–26.
  11. Mizuta, T.; Satoshi Yamagishi (1998). "Breeding biology of monogamous Asian Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone paradisi (Aves: Monarchinae): A special reference to colour dimorphism and exaggerated long tails in male" (PDF). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 46 (1): 101–112. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  12. Rashid, S.M.A.; Khan, A.; Ahmed, R. (1989). "Some observations on the breeding of Paradise Flycatcher, Terpsiphone paradisi (Linnaeus) (Monarchinae)". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 86 (1): 103–105.
  13. Tehsin, R.H. k; Tehsin, H. (1998). "White-eye (Zosterops palpebrosa) feeding the chicks of Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi)". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 95 (2): 348.
  14. Economics Of Protected Areas And Effect On Biodiversity Archived 2014-01-01 at the Wayback Machine , Ram Bir Singh Kushwah, Dr. Vijay Kumar, pp. 348, APH Publishing, 2001, ISBN 978-81-7648-209-7, ... The paradise flycatcher (Doodhraj) is the state bird ...

Further reading