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 generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

belonging to the monarch-flycatcher family,

Monarchidae The monarchs or monarch flycatchers (family Monarchidae) comprise a family of over 100 passerine birds which includes shrikebills, paradise flycatchers, and Grallina, magpie-larks. Monarchids are small insectivore, insectivorous songbirds with l ...

. 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 Griswold Latimer Bates (March 21, 1863, Abingdon, Illinois US – January 31, 1940 Chelmsford UK), LL.D., British Ornithologists' Union, M.B.O.U. was an American natural history, naturalist. He lived in central Africa and travelled widely, ...

. 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 species ...

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

Subspecies

There are two

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

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 performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

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 above ...

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

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