Indian Paradise-Flycatcher

About the Indian Paradise-Flycatcher

The Indian paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi) is a medium-sized passerine bird in the monarch flycatcher family, Monarchidae. 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, with resident and breeding populations in most of Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka, as well as parts of Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

The Indian paradise flycatcher has a length of 20–50 cm (7.9–19.7 in) from beak to tail. 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. Indian paradise flycatchers feed on insects, including grasshoppers, butterflies and praying mantises, as well as flies. The Indian paradise flycatcher typically captures prey in the air, kills it by hitting it on a rock, and then extracts the inner parts. often below a densely canopied tree.

The Indian paradise flycatcher was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema... Wikipedia →