| Bates's Paradise-flycatcher | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
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NR
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Monarchidae |
| Genus: | Terpsiphone |
| Species: | T. batesi |
| Binomial name | |
| Terpsiphone batesi Chapin, 1921 |
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Bates's Paradise-flycatcher (Terpsiphone batesi) is a passerine bird belonging to the genus Terpsiphone in the monarch-flycatcher family, Monarchidae. It is native to Central Africa. It is was formerly included in the Rufous-vented Paradise-flycatcher (T. rufocinerea) but is now often regarded as a separate species. Its name commemorates the American ornithologist George Latimer Bates.
It is usually 18 centimetres long but males in parts of Cameroon and Angola have elongated central tail-feathers making them 23-28 centimetres long. The head and underparts are blue-grey while the upperparts are rufous. The sexes are similar in coloration. The song is a series of ringing "tswee" notes.
The Rufous-vented Paradise-flycatcher is similar in appearance but has a darker head with a crest and males always have elongated central tail-feathers.
It inhabits the understorey of forests. It occurs from Cameroon and the south-western Central African Republic through Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo and much of the Democratic Republic of the Congo south as far as north-west Angola. There are two subspecies: T. b. batesi in the north and T. b. bannermani in the south.