Malagasy Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone mutata)

The Malagasy paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone mutata) is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is found in Comoros, Madagascar, and Mayotte. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

There are two colour morphs of this beautiful bird – white and rufous.  The reason for this is still not certain but you can read more about it here.  They often co-exist in the same habitat.  I took these photos in Ankarafantsika NP, Madagascar.

White Morph

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Rufous Morph

IMG_5491 IMG_5481 IMG_5494The good news is this intriguing and beautiful bird has a very large range and can be seen in most forested parks in Madagascar.  We found them easily in Ankarafantsika with both morphs in close proximity to each other.

MFC rangeLEARN MORE ABOUT MALAGASY FLYCATCHERS

Wikipedia

Birdlife

Mulder Lab

JSTOR

VIDEO

I couldn’t find anything embeddable, but if you go to IBC, you can see videos of a white morph male building a nest and a rufous female building a nest, both filmed near Ranomafana NP.