Monday, March 25, 2019

Ceylon Paradise Flycatcher

The Indian paradise flycatcher has three subspecies, one of which is the Ceylon paradise flycatcher found in Sri Lanka. The adult male has a long ribbon-like tail and occurs in two color morphs: one white and the other cinnamon or rufus. Each morph has a glossy black head with a blue ring around the eye. The white morph is entirely white below the head. 
Male white morph Ceylon paradise flycatcher.

The cinnamon morph has cinnamon upperparts and tail and dirty white underparts. 
Male cinnamon morph. Not a great photo but gives a good perspective of the tail. 
Another tail perspective. 

This photo captures the blue eye ring. 
Females are cinnamon above with a grayish throat, a much shorter tail and lack a blue eye ring. 
Female Ceylon paradise flycatcher.

While in Udawalawe National Park in Sri Lanka we encountered a female and both male morphs, all within a short period of time and those were the only ones we saw our entire trip. Watching the white morph male was magical. It looked fake, the tail winding and whirling around like a ribbon in a ribbon dance. 

1 comment:

  1. That tale was unbelievable. Seeing one was like seeing a peacock for the first time.

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