Terpsiphone paradisi
Size 50 cm (incl. tail) M/F
dimorphic
Like in the lores of yore, when
kings and commoners, on hearing about the unparalled beauty of Rani Padmavati
or Noor Jahan, would travel high and low craving a single glimpse of the queen, I was going around
like one possessed after hearing about the Paradise Flycatcher. I roamed the
woods of Goa to no avail; I missed it by a whisker in Phansad Bird Sanctuary
and didn’t even get a whiff of it in Dehradun – all places where my friends had
reported seeing it. Finally, just like that, I see it gliding outside my window
during a trip to Manali. Thereafter, I
saw a whole bunch of them flitting from one apple tree to another, outside my
hotel room, with their looong white two feathered tail trailing behind them,
waving like white flags in the breeze. The little orange feathered females they
were trying to impress appeared nonchalant, but I was beside myself with joy
and spent my days watching, waiting and chasing them the whole day, camera in
hand.
 |
| Adult Male |
Characteristics : The pictures
above hardly do justice to this lovely bird. The adult male’s silvery white
body and jet black head with a crest with two very long ribbon like feathers
for a tail makes it quite striking. The young male and female have chestnut
coloured feathers with whitish underbelly. The young male can be differentiated
by the long tail feathers.
 |
| Female |
 |
| Young males |
These birds have a harsh call and
a slightly pleasanter version when mating (guess you can’t have everything!)
Distribution : Found all over the
subcontinent, resident in some places and migrant in others.
Food: they feed on small insects
and flies.
Breeding : Their nesting season
is February to July. They tightly weave their cup shaped nests with grass and
fibre covered with cobweb placed between forked or angled branches. 3-5 pale
pinkish eggs with reddish blotches and speckles. Both parents share parental
duties.
NEXT Page
NEXT Page
No comments:
Post a Comment