Anu Kusumakar Kadri

Tag: Indian paradise flycatcher

  • Indian paradise flycatcher -plumage polymorphism in male

    Indian Paradise Flycatcher
    In White Morph, Rufous plumage, Intermediate form

    Check out part-1 of this series –https://anukusumkadri.9sh.org/2020/06/20/amazing-birds-and-truly-amazing-facts-of-birds-indian-paradise-flycatcher/

    Many species show polymorphisms, which are often sex-related. However, there are also polymorphisms within a sex — these may be related to age or may be stable throughout their life. Which one of these depends on the function of the polymorphism.

    Indian Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi). Males of this species have two morphs: rufous and white. Both are with long tail streamers.

    There are several hypotheses about these male morphs.
    *One notion is that juvenile males are rufous, and that they moult in the third year into white morph adults.
    The existence of intermediate form (intermediate between the two morphs)is an evidence for morph relating to age.

    *Another hypothesis is that the morphs are not due to age, but instead of coexistence with each other.

    *The third hypothesis is, it includes elements of the previous two, that is that juvenile males are rufous, but moult in the third year to either rufous or white.

    In general

    *The females are cinnamon above with a grayish throat, dirty white below, a shorter tail, and they have black eyering which makes them look dull, grey bill and grey feet. (See the photo attached)

    Female Indian paradise flycatcher, Photo courtesy: Devadatha Kumar SR

    *Juveniles/young males are rufous and have short tails. They have blue eye ring, the head, face, crown, crest and nape are glossy black. The throat is black ( See the photo)

    Young male Indian Paradise Flycatcher. Photo courtesy: Devadatha Kumar SR

    *The adult males exhibit plumage dichromatism. They are either predominantly bright RUFOUS abovementioned or predominantly WHITE.
    The edges of the wings and tail feathers are sometimes black.
    The head, face, crown, crest and nape are glossy black. The throat is black in males, the bill is black. The males have blue eye-ring, the legs are gray.

    Adult Indian Paradise Flycatcher in White Morph, Rufous plumage
    Photo courtesy: Devadatha Kumar SR.

    *Intermediates of both forms also exist. ( See the Photo)

    Indian Paradise Flycatcher in Intermediate form
    Photo by Anu Kusumakar Kadri


    *Some birds also molte from rufous into white plumage. (See it in the photo attached)

    Young male turning into white Morph
    Photo by Anu Kusumakar Kadri

    According to Summer Research Fellowship Programme of India’s Science Academies
    the possibility of age related polymorphism within this framework, and suggest that young birds are rufous but become white adults in the north but remain rufous in the south.

    Reference collected from:

    http://www.reports.ias.ac.in/report/19978/investigating-male-plumage-polymorphism-in-indian-paradise-flycatcher
    Dr. Suhel Quader
    Nature Conservation Foundation, No.361 ‘Hari Hara’, 5th Main Road, 1st cross Road, Kodigehalli, Bengaluru, Karnataka, 560097

    A. Civin Solomon
    Bharathidasan University, 196/236, Joshua Street, Opposite to YMCA, College Road, Nagercoil, 629001

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_paradise_flycatcher

    In this video you can see the polymorphisms,(different plumages) in male at different stages of its life.

    Indian paradise flycatcher is a eye catching bird, which turned me into a bird watcher since 2017. My encountering these birds, and all my observations are purely from the wild and each film recording spontaneous from nature direct during 2017 – 2020 in my Sunday birding trips in outskirts of Bangalore. I have attached Photographs borrowed from Mr Devadatha Kumar SR my batch mate and guide in this article.

    All about Indian paradise flycatcher in wild.:

  • Amazing birds and truly amazing facts of Birds-Indian Paradise Flycatcher

    Introduction of Indian Paradise Flycatcher

    • Indian Paradise Flycatcher
      (Fem      ale)
    • Indian Paradise Flycatcher
      (Adult male rufous)
    Photo courtesy: Devadatha Kumar SR

    The Indian Paradise Flycatchers (Scientific Name :Terpsiphone paradisi) They are found  naturally in Asia in extremely large range.
    Indian Paradise Flycatchers are a beautiful bird. Size of adult Indian Paradise Flycatchers are between 18 to 22 cm. The length of the tail (adult male) is between 20 to 24 cm, with two central tail feathers growing up to 30 cm long drooping streamers.  Their wings are between 3.4 – 3.6 inches (86 – 92 mm) long.


           Males paradise flycatcher is found  in two morphs or phases, one have a rufous or glossy chestnut upper plumage and another with a white or dirty white plumage. The edges of the wings and tail feathers are sometimes black.Intermediates of both forms also exist. Some birds also molted from rufous into white plumage.

    Head of Indian Paradise flycatcher is glossy black with a glossy black crown and crest. They have short legs and sit very upright whilst perched prominently. The bill is round and sturdy and bluish black in color. Eyes are black, and the eye rings are bluish black.

          Male Indian Paradise flycatcher have long tail feathers. The long, narrow tail is rounded at the tip, except for the two streamers that droop. This central pair of tail feathers growing up to 20 to 30 cm long drooping streamers. The females are only 20 cm long and lack the tail streamers

    Female are rufous on the back with a greyish throat and underparts, and they have short tail with rufous wings and a black head. Females have greyish throat and underpart, the eyes are black with bright bluish rings around the eyes.

           Young males  lack the two very long central tail feathers, which they acquire in their second or third year.At juvenile stage they look very much like females. Their bodies and wings are rufous and the head, including the throat, is completely black. They have a black throat and blue-ringed eyes.


    Habit and habitat

     They prefer thick forests and well-wooded habitats. They also found in forest, gardens, shady groves, light deciduous jungle, and bamboo ravines. They are migratory and spend the winter season in tropical Asia.

    Distribution
    They found in India, Sri Lanka, and Turkestan to Manchuria and west to the Malay Archipelago where they inhabit the islands of Sumba and Alor. There are resident populations in southern India and Sri Lanka, hence both visiting migrants and the locally breeding subspecies occur in these areas in winter

    Call
      They are quite noisy birds uttering sharp skreek calls. They also call che-che or che-chew or sharp zweet…zweet….
     Food
         Indian paradise flycatcher is a insectivorous bird. They feed on insects, butterflies and flies. They usually hunt in the understory of densely canopied trees.

    Breeding and Nesting

    Indian Paradise Flycatcher are socially monogamous.Nesting and breeding season is between March to July. They make a cup like nest  by twigs bound together with spider webs and is usually situated on the end of a low tree branch. Both male and female take part in nest-building.

    • Incubation
    • Feeding
    • Removal of Fecal sac

          A clutch usually consists of 3 – 4 eggs, which are  pale creamy pink with reddish brown in colour. Incubation for about 21 – 23 days. Both parents take part in hatching, brooding and feeding of the young. The incubation period is between 14 to 18 days. Chicks hatch in about 21 to 24 days.

    All about Indian paradise flycatcher in wild.: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-BYiNWpklmcps77-NBz6slJcdgDajCQf

    My encountering these birds, and all my observations are purely from the wild and each film recording spontaneous from nature direct during 2017 – 2020 in my Sunday birding trips in outskirts of Bangalore.

    To make this article more distinct and meticulous, i will be adding Photographs clicked and shared by my batch mate and birding guide, Mr Devadatha Kumar SR(https://www.facebook.com/dath36) . Again, all these photos are captured in the wild nature, outskirts of Bangalore.

    Information source: #https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_paradise_flycatcher

    photos