Livingstone’s Flycatcher
Paradise Flycatcher
Let’s go back to our coastal forest.
One specie that the keen birders will look for around the lodge is the very elusive, tiny and beautiful Livingstone’s Flycatcher (Erythrocercus livingstonei, 11.5 cm). We are lucky because our coastal forest has a large population and they are quite easy to see in mixed feeding birds party when the forest warms up around 10 am. They are insectivorous, local residents and they are usually found in groups of 2 to 7 birds. They can be easily located by their high-pitched warbling notes call.
Even if the Livingston’s Flycatcher is definitively the leader of the birds’ parties, its relative the Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone viridis, 17 cm) is never very far. Only the male has a long central tail feathers (temporarily lost during post breeding). They are found mainly in winter into the coastal forest where they over-wintering instead of going for an intra-African breeding migration. They are monogamous. The neat cup-shaped nest is placed on an exposed branch.
A big thanks to Olivier Hamerlynck for the front picture.