Indian Paradise Flycatcher
Terpsiphone paradisi
Chincholi Wildlife Sanctuary, Ananthagiri & Narsapur Forest Range, Ameenpur Lake, Telangana & Kabini Backwaters
State Bird of Madhya Pradesh, India
The “Old World” - a fascinating term seemingly like something out of the Lord of the Rings and Jurassic Park put together. But in our case the term "Old World" is used commonly to refer to Asia, Africa and Europe (Afro-Eurasia or the World Island), regarded collectively as the part of the world known to its population before contact with the "New World" (the Americas). In the context of archaeology & world history, the term "Old World" includes those parts of the world which were in (indirect) cultural contact from the Bronze Age onwards, resulting in the parallel development of the early civilisations, mostly in the temperate zone between roughly the 45th and 25th parallels, in the area of the Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, Persian plateau, Indian subcontinent and China. The concept of the three continents in the Old World, viz. Asia, Africa, and Europe, goes back to classical antiquity. Their boundaries as defined by Ptolemy and other geographers of antiquity were drawn along the Nile in what is now Egypt and the Don river in Russia. This definition remained influential throughout the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period.
The Old World flycatchers are a large family, the Muscicapidae, of small passerine birds mostly restricted to the Old World (Europe, Africa and Asia). These are mainly small arboreal insectivores, many of which, as the name implies, take their prey on the wing. The family includes 344 species and is divided into 51 genera. Old World flycatchers live in almost every environment with a suitable supply of trees, from dense forest to open scrub, & even the montane woodland of the Himalayas. The more northerly species migrate south in winter, ensuring a continuous diet of insects.
The appearance of these birds is very varied, but they mostly have weak songs and harsh calls. They are small to medium birds, ranging from 9 to 22 cm in length. Many species are dull brown in colour, but the plumage of some can be much brighter, especially in the males. Most have broad, flattened bills suited to catching insects in flight, although the few ground-foraging species typically have finer bills. Depending on the species, their nests are either well-constructed cups placed in a tree or cliff ledge, or simply lining in a pre-existing tree hole. The hole-nesting species tend to lay larger clutches, with an average of eight eggs, rather than just two to five.
The family Muscicapidae contains many subfamilies and each sub family contains many tribes. I have covered some of the birds of the genus Phoenicurus – Redstarts and the genus Myophonus - Whistling Thrushes in earlier blogs.
But today is about a bird which, I think, is probably the most graceful & glamorous flycatcher of them all - the Indian Paradise Flycatcher. The adult male sports a long ribbonlike tail and they occur in two color morphs - cinnamon and white. Both color morphs sport a glossy black head with a blue ring around the eye. The white morph is entirely white below while the cinnamon morph has cinnamon upperparts & tail, and dirty white underparts. The females are cinnamon above with a grayish throat, a shorter tail, and they lack the male’s blue eyering. They make short aerial sallies after insects, usually returning to the same perch and occasionally descending to ground to pull apart insects. These are chiefly found in wooded habitats and can be easily distinguished by their harsh “shreew”.
Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve
The first time I saw this stunning bird was a few years back deep inside Tadoba while waiting for Madhuri’s cub to make an appearance from under a lantana bush. Tadoba is a jungle where, early in the day, the sun follows one like a lodestar through the tangled heads of the trees and as the day progresses it burns with a blinding exquisiteness that makes us shield our eyes and bless our existence. The light is lustrous in the open spaces and seemed undistllled from heaven to earth seeming like a laser show at times as gem clear beams filter through the trees. The warmth of it settles over our faces like a silken mask and life is a golden joy. That is the thing about the seraph-light of this jungle; it can sweep down like the handloom of the gods one moment, pure and clear and long of line.
My first encounter with the Indian Paradise Flycatcher, called Doodhraj by the locals, deep inside the jungles of Tadoba quite a few years back.
Tadoba lies in the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra state, once ruled by the Gond Kings in the vicinity of the Chimur Hills, and is approximately 150 km from the closest major city, Nagpur. The total area of the tiger reserve is 1,727 km², which includes the Tadoba National Park, created in the year 1955. The Andhari Wildlife Sanctuary was formed in the year 1986 and was amalgamated with the park in 1995 to establish the present Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve. The word 'Tadoba' is derived from the name of God "Tadoba" or "Taru," venerated by the local adivasi (tribal) people of this region and "Andhari" is derived from the name of the river Andhari flowing in this area. Legend holds that Taru was a village chief killed in a mythological encounter with a tiger. Taru was deified and a shrine now exists beneath a large tree on the banks of the Tadoba Lake. The temple is frequented by the adivasis between the months of December through January.
The park is open to visitors from October to June every season and remains closed every Tuesday. It is divided into three separate ranges - the Tadoba north range, Kolsa south range and the Moharli range sandwiched between the two. There are two lakes - Tadoba and Kolsa - and a river which are replenished by the monsoon every year sustaining the wildlife in the park. Rich in flora and fauna the vegetation is southern tropical dry deciduous and covers about 630 km². Teak and bamboo are prominent and the northern and western parts of the reserve are hilly and dense with deep valleys and a sprinkling of lush meadows. Home to some of central India’s best native woodland bird species, about 181 including endangered and water birds, the park also boasts leopards, sloth bear, the Indian bison (Gaur), Nilgai, Dhole, Striped Hyena, small Indian Civet, numerous Jungle Cats, Chital (Axis Deer), Sambhar, Barking Deer, Four-horned antelope, Marsh Crocodiles, a profusion of Langurs and Rhesus Macaques and a good measure of reptiles like the Indian Python, Cobra and numerous other species. Tadoba, unfortunately, also has a high rate of man tiger conflict. Several instances have also been reported of wildlife killing domestic livestock and there are villages still within the forest contrary to the efforts of the Forest department so we were told. Note it is man conflicting with nature and not the other way round.
Kabini
In the lush Nilgiri Biosphere, to the south of the famed Nagarhole Tiger Reserve & National Park, on the banks of the river Kasbani lies the area known as Kabini. A major tributary of the Cauvery, the Kasbani is also known as the Kapila River and Kabini River giving the area its name. Consisting mainly of moist deciduous forests, interspersed with teak and eucalyptus plantations, and at a lower altitude compared to Bandipur across the river, Kabini is sprinkled with open grasslands, making it easy to spot wildlife, and providing amazing photographic opportunities. Especially so in winter when the forests are a verdant green and the magnificent coats of the big cats pop. Together with the adjoining Bandipur National Park (870 km²), Mudumalai National Park (320 km²) & Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (344 km²), it forms the largest protected area in Southern India, totalling 2,183 km².
The erstwhile exclusive hunting grounds of the kings of Mysore, Kabini has lush forests, small rivulets, hills, valleys and waterfalls making it a veritable paradise for many species like the tiger, dhole, gaur, chital, sambhar, elephants and the leopard. One can also spot the critically endangered oriental white-backed vulture, various species of eagles and the Nilgiri wood pigeon.
Read about the tigers I have seen in Tadoba, Kabini and a few more.
I have a short clip of the Indian Paradise Flycatcher as part of this story from Kabini.
I have also seen the Indian Paradise Flycatcher much closer to home in places like the Ananthagiri, Narsapur and Damagundam forest ranges and Ameenpur Lake among other locations surrounding the metropolis of Hyderabad.
Ananthagiri Forest Range
Ananthagiri Hills is located in the Vikarabad district of Telangana. It is one of two major reserve forest blocks of the Vikarabad Forest Range the other one being the Damagundam Forest Reserve and each of these forest blocks is spread over a 10 square kilometre area. While the limits of Damagundam begin from Manneguda, a small town about 60 kms from Hyderabad, Ananthagiri block begins where the limits of Vikarabad end near the railway tracks. The Ananthagiri hills and their dense forests host many wild species like the Nilgai, Sambhar, Black Buck, Chital, Chowsingha, Chinkara, Wild Goats and many more. The streams from these hills flows into Osman Sagar, also known as the Gandipet lake, and Himayath Sagar. It is one of the denser forests in Telangana and is the birthplace (about 5 kilometers from the town of Vikarabad) of the Musi river, also known as the Muchkunda River, which flows through the capital city, Hyderabad. The Musi River after originating in these Ananthagiri Hills, about 90 kilometers to the west of Hyderabad and flowing due east for almost all of its course joins the Krishna River at Wadapally in the Nalgonda district after covering a total distance of about 240 km. Also in these forests is the Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Temple, a Hindu temple dedicated to the Lord Vishnu.
According to the Skanda Purana it is believed this temple was installed by Rishi Markandeya in the Dvapara Yuga. Attracted by the peaceful atmosphere of the Ananthagiri Hills Rishi Markandeya came here for yoga sadhana. It is believed that the Rishi, on the strength of his spiritual powers, would visit Kasi daily for a bath in the sacred Ganges through a cave. One day he was not able to visit Kasi because the Dwadasi was in the early hours of the morning. Because of this miss the Lord Vishnu appeared, gave Darshan, in a dream and arranged for the Ganges to flow so the Rishi could take his bath daily without having to travel.
About 400 years back the Nizams of Hyderabad used these forests as their hunting grounds. It is said that the lord Vishnu in the form of Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy appeared in a dream and asked the then Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, to build a temple for him. About 20 kilometers from the temple lies the Nagasamudram Lake or Kotipally Reservoir, a masonry dam.
It is one of the earliest habitat areas with ancient caves, medieval fort structures and temples that illustrate the antiquity of this area.
I love these forests as they are home to innumerable bird species, some of which I have photographed and many more which I am yet to photograph. I only hope the so called “bird and nature lovers” who come here to photograph and achieve social media fame adhere to ethical birding practices and refrain from using calls, especially owl calls, and bait.
Read about some of the other birds I’ve photographed in these beautiful forests.
With that said, meet this glamorous flycatcher of these stunning Indian forests.
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Indian Paradise Flycatcher
The first time sight of the adult male of the Indian Paradise Flycatcher in its full regalia, is an unforgettable experience. Perched upright at the edge of a branch, often near water, this blue-rufous or silvery-white bird sports a raffish inky blue-black crest and head, black eyes ringed in blue neon, a spiky black moustache, and two long streamers in its tail. Overall, the adult Indian paradise flycatchers are about 19–22 cm long. The females are rufous on the back with a greyish throat and underparts. Their wings are 86–92 mm long and the young males look very much like the females but have a black throat and blue-ringed eyes. As adults, they develop up to 24 cm long tail feathers with two central tail feathers growing up to about 30 cm long drooping streamers.
Young males are rufous with short tails only acquiring long tails in their second or third year. The adult males are either predominantly bright rufous above or predominantly white. Some specimens show a degree of intermediacy between rufous and white. Long-tailed rufous birds are generally devoid of shaft streaks on the wing and tail feathers, while in white birds the shaft streaks, and sometimes the edges of the wing and tail feathers are black. The Indian Paradise Flycatcher flies with all the grace and élan of an Olympic gymnast, the long tail trailing loops and scoops and figures of eight as the bird swiftly darts after insects.
Fortunately the Indian Paradise Flycatcher, true to its name, is found all over India (as well as Central Asia and Myanmar) generally in forests and well-wooded areas, but also in large parks in big cities usually near water. It is migratory and subject to local movements; birds in the north go south during winter and those living in the Himalayas, come down to the northern plains.
In general, long-tailed males are
predominantly rufous with some white in wings and tail — collected in Turkestan, Kashmir, northern India, Punjab, Maharashtra, Sikkim, and in Sri Lanka;
predominantly rufous with some white in wings — collected in Iran, Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Punjab, Kashmir, northern and central India, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Bihar, and Nepal;
predominantly rufous with some white in tail — collected in Punjab, northern and central India, Kolkata, Sri Lanka, and in the Upper Yangtze Valley in China;
predominantly white with some rufous in tail and wings — collected in Kashmir, Maharashtra, Sichuan, and North China;
predominantly white with some rufous in tail — collected in Maharashtra and Fuzhou, China;
predominantly white with back partly rufous — collected in Punjab and Chennai;
moulting from rufous into white plumage — collected in North Bihar.
Possible interpretations of this phenomenon are: males may be polymorphic for rufous and white plumage colour; rufous birds may be sub-adults; and there may even be two sympatric species distinguishable only in the male.
Some specimens show a degree of intermediacy between rufous and white. Long-tailed rufous birds are generally devoid of shaft streaks on the wing and tail feathers, while in white birds the shaft streaks, and sometimes the edges of the wing and tail feathers are black. This specimen was photographed at the Chincholi Wildlife Sanctuary.
Source: Bird Count India
Indian Paradise Flycatcher - Migration Map
Source: Bird Count India
The Indian paradise flycatcher is migratory and spends the winter season in tropical Asia. In southern India and Sri Lanka especially the highlands and western parts of Sri Lanka, both locally breeding populations and visiting migrants occur in winter. Indian paradise flycatcher's breeding season lasts from May to July. Being socially monogamous, both males and females take part in nest-building, incubation, brooding, and feeding of the young. The incubation period lasts 14 to 16 days and the nestling period 9 to 12 days. The nest is sometimes built in the vicinity of a breeding pair of drongos, which keep predators away. The female lays up to four eggs in a neat cup nest made with twigs and spider webs on the end of a low branch. Chicks hatch in about 21 to 23 days. A case of interspecific feeding has been noted with paradise flycatcher chicks fed by Oriental white-eyes.
The Indian paradise flycatcher is a medium-sized passerine bird native to Asia, where it is widely distributed. As the global population is considered stable, it has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2004.
The following gallery of the Indian Paradise Flycatcher is of the birds observed & photographed in a lot of places like Tadoba, Kabini and the vicinity of my home city if Hyderabad.
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