The African blue flycatcher or blue-crested flycatcher (''Elminia longicauda'') is a species of
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
in the family
Stenostiridae
Stenostiridae, or the fairy flycatchers, are a family of small passerine birds proposed as a result of recent discoveries in molecular systematics.Beresford ''et al.'' (2005) They are also referred to as stenostirid warblers.
Taxonomy and system ...
from western and central
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
.
Description
The African blue flycatcher is a dainty, pale, bright blue flycatcher with a short crest and long tail. The entire upper parts and tail are bright blue, shading between blue and
cyan
Cyan () is the color between green and blue on the visible spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a predominant wavelength between 490 and 520 nm, between the wavelengths of green and blue.
In the subtractive color system, or CMYK color ...
, with black lores and black flight feathers edged with blue, the underparts are greyish blue fading to whitish on the belly. The bill and legs are black. Juveniles are duller with faint greyish spotting on the head and wing coverts.
It measures in length and weighs .
Voice
The song of the African blue flycatcher is a series of slow, rather random and tuneless sibilant notes strung together in no particular order.
[ Call is a quiet "''tsip''".]
Distribution
The African blue flycatcher occurs from Mauritania
Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gà nnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
, Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤠(Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤠ðž ...
and Gambia
The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...
east discontinuously to Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
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, capital = Nairobi
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and south through the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
to northern Angola
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.[
]
Habitat
Its natural habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
s are moist lowland forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
s, mangrove forests, gallery forest, montane forest
Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...
s, gardens, wooded farmland and moist savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...
.[
]
Habits
The African blue flycatcher forages rather gracefully with a fanned tail and half open wings among leaves, as well as occasionally foraging on the ground and flycatching.
Taxonomy
The African blue flycatcher is thought to form a superspecies with the white-tailed blue flycatcher
The white-tailed blue flycatcher (''Elminia albicauda'') is a species of bird in the family Stenostiridae. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
Its natural ...
and these species ; the two have been placed in a separate genus ''Errannornis'', but the differences between this species pair and the other species classified in ''Elminia
''Elminia'' is a genus of bird in the flycatcher family Stenostiridae. The genus is endemic to Africa. It contains the following species:
* African blue flycatcher (''Elminia longicauda'')
* White-tailed blue flycatcher (''Elminia albicauda'')
...
'' are considered insufficient to merit generic separation.[
Two ]subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
of the African blue flycatcher are currently recognised. ''Elminia longicauda longicauda'' (Swainson, 1838) which is found in the western part of its range as far east as Nigeria, and the paler ''Elminia longicauda teresita'' Antinori, 1864 in the west and the south.[
]
References
External links
Image at ADW
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3051593
Elminia
Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa
Birds described in 1838
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot