Seychelles Paradise Flycatcher

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Seychelles Paradise Flycatcher
Conservation status

Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Monarchidae
Genus: Terpsiphone
Species: T. corvina
Binomial name
Terpsiphone corvina
(E. Newton, 1867)
Seychelles Paradise Flycatcher on La Digue
Special reserve on La Digue

The Seychelles Paradise-flycatcher (Terpsiphone corvina) is a rare bird from the genus of paradise-flycatchers (Terpsiphone) within the family Monarchidae. It is endemic to the Seychelles.

Description

The length of the males is about 20 cm. In addition there are two long black central tail feathers which can reach a length of 30 cm. The females can reach a length between 16 and 18 cm (including the tail). The males are entirely glossy black with a deep blue sheen. The upperparts of the females including wings and tail are reddish brown. The underparts are pale cream white. Facial skin, bill, and legs are blue.

Distribution

It lives in the Veuve Nature Reserve on La Digue, Seychelles, where it inhabits dense Calophyllum forests. Although a reservation was made especially for this bird, it is common to see it outside in the trees or even in the garden of the Seichellois people. Plans were made to get this bird back into the wild on other islands of the Seychelles, but so far, the numbers stayed the same.

Ecology

It preys on insects in flight or from a perch. It also feeds on larvae and spiders. The oval bowl-shaped nest is built on branches and consists of twigs, palm fibre, and spider webs. Both parents, male and female, take care of the little bird until it grows up and each of them provides it with food, mainly in the form of flies for which it got its name.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Terpsiphone corvina". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013. 
  • J. Del Hoyo, A. Elliot, David A. Christie (Editors): Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 11. Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers. Lynx Edicions 2006, ISBN 84-96553-06-X
  • Malcolm Penny: The Birds of the Seychelles and the Outlying Islands, Collins, London 1974
  • Alien mammal eradication and quarantine on inhabited islands in the Seychelles PDF Online

External links


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