Red-bellied paradise flycatcher
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Red-bellied paradise flycatcher
| image = Flickr - Rainbirder - Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone rufiventer) male.jpg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Terpsiphone
| species = rufiventer
| authority = (Swainson, 1837)
| synonyms = * Muscipeta rufiventer
}}
The red-bellied paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone rufiventer), also known as the black-headed paradise flycatcher, is a medium-sized passerine bird of the family of monarch flycatchers. It is native to intra-tropical forests of Africa. The male bird is about {{convert|17|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} long and has a black head, a mainly chestnut body, and a tail with streamers nearly twice as long as the body. The colouring is somewhat variable across the bird's range. Both females and juveniles lack the tail streamers and are a duller brown colour. It is closely related to the African paradise flycatcher, and the two can hybridise.
Taxonomy
The red-bellied paradise flycatcher was formally described and illustrated in 1837 by the English zoologist William Swainson under the binomial name Muscipeta rufiventer.{{ cite book | last=Swainson | first=William | author-link=William Swainson | date=1837 | chapter=Birds of Western Africa. Part II | editor-last=Jardine | editor-first=William | editor-link=Sir William Jardine, 7th Baronet | title=The Naturalist's Library | volume=12 | location=London | publisher=Henry G. Bohn | page=53, Plate 4 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/17329208 }} Although Swainson was describing birds from West Africa, the type locality has been restricted to Senegal.{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Cottrell | editor2-first=G. William | year=1986 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=11 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=480 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14484181 }} The specific epithet is Modern Latin meaning "red-bellied" from Latin rufus meaning "ruddy" or "rufous" and venter, ventris meaning "belly".{{ cite web | last=Jobling | first=James A. | title=rufiventer | work=The Key to Scientific Names | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=rufiventer | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | access-date=10 March 2025 }} The red-bellied paradise flycatcher is now one of 16 paradise flycatchers placed in the genus Terpsiphone that was introduced in 1827 by the German zoologist Constantin Gloger.{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=February 2025 | title=Monarchs | work=IOC World Bird List Version 15.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/monarchs/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=10 March 2025 }}
Eleven subspecies are recognised:
- T. r. rufiventer (Swainson, 1837) – Senegal, Gambia and west Guinea
- T. r. nigriceps (Hartlaub, 1855) – Sierra Leone and Guinea to Togo and southwest Benin
- T. r. fagani (Bannerman, 1921) – Benin and southwest Nigeria
- T. r. tricolor (Fraser, 1843) – Bioko (island in Gulf of Guinea)
- T. r. neumanni Stresemann, 1924 – southeast Nigeria to north Angola
- T. r. schubotzi (Reichenow, 1911) – southeast Cameroon and southwest Central African Republic
- T. r. mayombe (Chapin, 1932) – Congo and west DR Congo
- T. r. somereni Chapin, 1948 – west, south Uganda
- T. r. emini Reichenow, 1893 – southeast Uganda, west Kenya and northwest Tanzania
- T. r. ignea (Reichenow, 1901) – east Central African Republic, DR Congo, northeast Angola and northwest Zambia
- T. r. smithii (Fraser, 1843) – Annobón Island (south Gulf of Guinea) (Annobón paradise flycatcher)
The subspecies T. r. smithii has sometimes been considered as a separate species, the Annobón paradise flycatcher.
References
{{Reflist}}
- Birds of The Gambia by Barlow, Wacher and Disley, {{ISBN|1-873403-32-1}}
{{Monarchidae|1}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q165856}}
red-bellied paradise flycatcher
Category:Birds of the Gulf of Guinea
Category:Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa