African Paradise Flycatcher

Terpsiphone viridis

The African paradise flycatcher is a medium-sized passerine bird. The two central tail feathers of the male are extended into streamers that commonly are more than twice as long as the body. The female tail feathers are of moderate length and without streamers. The upper parts of the male body, wings, and tail are boldly coloured in chestnut or rusty shades, but the underparts and the head are variably grey to blue-gray, with the head of the mature male being darker, commonly glossy black with greenish highlights. The beak and other bare areas, including a wattle ring round the eye, match the colour of the surrounding feathers. The female coloration is similar, though not so showy and glossy and with the head paler. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 5,916 times across 13 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

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Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 27°C (typically 23 to 27°C, from 5 areas). That holds across 20° of latitude, which suggests its timing follows temperature more than the calendar.

Over the weeks it was present in the past year, its centre in Africa ranged from 28°S in November to 9°S in February, about 2,100 km apart.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.