Bates's paradise flycatcher (''Terpsiphone batesi'') is a

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...

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 lightweig ...

belonging to the monarch-flycatcher 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 ...

. The sexes are similar in appearance with the upper parts being rufous and the head and underparts being bluish-grey. It is native to central Africa where it is found in the understorey of forests.

Taxonomy and systematics

Its name commemorates the American ornithologist

George Latimer Bates George Latimer Bates (March 21, 1863, Abingdon, Illinois US – January 31, 1940 Chelmsford UK), LL.D., M.B.O.U. was an American naturalist. Bates studied at Knox College, Galesburg and at the Chicago Theological Seminary and in 1895 visited ...

. Bates's paradise flycatcher was formerly considered as a subspecies of the

rufous-vented paradise flycatcher The rufous-vented paradise flycatcher (''Terpsiphone rufocinerea'') is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae. It is found from southern Cameroon to eastern and central Democratic Republic of the Congo and north-western Angola. This specie ...

but is now recognized as a separate species. An alternate name is the Cameroon rufous-vented paradise-flycatcher.

Subspecies

There are two subspecies recognized: * ''T. b. batesi'' – Chapin, 1921: Found from southern Cameroon and Gabon to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo * Bannerman's paradise-flycatcher (''T. b. bannermani'') – Chapin, 1948: Formerly considered by some authorities as a separate species. Found in Congo, southwestern Democratic Republic of Congo and northern Angola

Description

Bates's paradise flycatcher 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 A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

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.

Distribution

It inhabits the

understorey In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but abov ...

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. 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.

References

*Beolens, Bo & Watkins, Michael (2003) ''Whose Bird?: Men and women commemorated in the common names of birds'', Christopher Helm, London. *Sinclair, Ian & Ryan, Peter (2003) ''Birds of Africa south of the Sahara'', Struik, Cape Town. {{Taxonbar, from=Q3726802 Terpsiphone Birds of Central Africa Bates's paradise flycatcher Bates's paradise flycatcher