BENGALURU:
1 Common name of the bird : The Indian Paradise Flycatcher.
2 Scientific name : Terpsiphone paradisi.
3 Distinguishing / Identifying features: As the name suggests, this bird looks as though it has come straight from the Paradise. The Indian Paradise Flycatcher is almost the size of a House Sparrow but with two long central tail feathers. The male of the species has beautiful ‘tape-like’ central tail feathers. Both the genders have black glossy head with an erect, pointed crest. The male one, like the female, has a chestnut-brown coloured body for the first three years. They are later replaced by white feathers which replaces its chestnust-brown plumage. But the female remains to be in chestnut-brown plumage through out its life.
4 Some Interesting facts about the bird :The Indian Paradise Flycatcher is a resident bird and is found, not very commonly though, in most of our well-wooded city’s gardens through out India.
Some migratory populations come down to South India during the winter season. These flycatchers are very active birds -- they are always on the look-out for any air-borne insects and flies. Once they spot a flying insect, they quickly spring into action, chase the fly / insect in mid-air, catches it, and comes back to its perch and then devour them whole. It is very interesting to see and a real treat to our eyes, especially to see a male Paradise Flycatcher do it with its beautiful long tail.
They are usually found in a quite, less disturbed, well-wooded area. Mostly found perched on to a horizontal branch in the middle of the trees. They sometimes do not hesitate to come down to the ground if they find any insect or a grasshopper.
The Paradise Flycatchers are a bit of a noisy birds, as they move around from one branch to another, from one perch to another. They make a harsh “kreek....kreeek.....kreek” calls uttered roughly in a gap of 10 to 15 seconds. Although these Flycatchers are found among other trees, they seem to have a special affinity to Mango trees and orchards.At some village settlements, they are even known to come inside the cow-sheds looking out for house flies that bother the cattle.
Their breeding months are from May to July. Both the male and female Flycatchers take part in nest building activity.
They build a beautiful, ‘V’-shaped nest, between two twigs in a tree and made up of small twigs on the outer surface and with an inner lining made of cob-webs and soft down-feathers. The female lays 3-4 eggs.
5 Threats and disturbances the bird faces: These Paradise Flycatchers just love being in well wooded areas - in a place that is filled with lots of trees and expects a bare minimal interference from humans and animals.
They go around eating harmful flies and other insects right from mid-air. Hence, they play an important role in forests and in our gardens as a controller of harmful flies and insects which would otherwise cause a lot of damage to the trees and vegetation.
(Writer is a member of Birdwatchers Field Club of Bangalore)