Seychelles Paradise Flycatcher - Terpsiphone corvina 2

Paradise flycatcher of La Digue Seychelles

The Seychelles paradise flycatcher (''Terpsiphone corvina'') is a rare bird from the genus of paradise flycatchers (''

Terpsiphone The paradise flycatchers (''Terpsiphone'') are a genus of birds in the family Monarchidae. The genus ranges across Africa and Asia, as well as a number of islands. A few species are migratory, but the majority are resident. The most telling char ...

'') within the family

Monarchidae The monarchs (family Monarchidae) comprise a family of over 100 passerine birds which includes shrikebills, paradise flycatchers, and magpie-larks. Monarchids are small insectivorous songbirds with long tails. They inhabit forest or woodland a ...

. It is a forest-dwelling bird

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

where it is native to the island of

La Digue La Digue is the third most populated island of the Seychelles, and fourth largest by land area, lying east of Praslin and west of Felicite Island. In size, it is the fourth-largest granitic island of Seychelles after Mahé, Praslin and Silhouett ...

. Males have glossy black plumage with elongated tail feathers, while females are reddish-brown with pale underparts and no long tail feathers. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

lists this bird as being " Vulnerable" and attempts have been made to increase its numbers by relocating some individuals to

Denis Island Denis Island is the second northeasternmost island in the Seychelles. It is north of Mahé, Seychelles, Mahé and lies at the northern edge of the Seychelles bank, along with the nearby Bird Island, Seychelles, Bird Island, which is the northernm ...

, another island in the Seychelles archipelago.

Taxonomy and systematics

An alternate common name for the Seychelles paradise flycatcher is the Seychelles black paradise-flycatcher.

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

, where it inhabits dense ''

Calophyllum ''Calophyllum'' is a genus of tropical flowering plants in the family Calophyllaceae. They are mainly distributed in Asia, with some species in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, and the Pacific Islands. History Members of the genus ''Calophyllu ...

'' 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 Seychellois people. Plans were made to get this bird back into the wild on other islands of the Seychelles.

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.

Conservation status

The

lists this bird as being " Vulnerable". The threats it faces are a result of its specific habitat requirements which are incompatible with the habitat loss and fragmentation taking place on La Digue, due to increasing tourism and the expansion of settlements. Numbers of birds are thought to be in the low hundreds, and in an effort to improve its long-term hopes of survival, it has been introduced to

where there are no mammalian predators. 23 birds were moved to Denis Island in 2008 and have since successfully bred there.

References

External links

ArKive – Pictures and Information about Terpsiphone corvina
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1060444 Terpsiphone Birds of Seychelles Critically endangered fauna of Africa Birds described in 1867 Taxa named by Edward Newton