Black-headed Paradise-Flycatcher

Black-headed Paradise-Flycatcher

Terpsiphone rufiventer

Silhouette: PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Kampala

In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%

431 Verified sightings at Kampala
1,002 In all 6 parks From 2019 to 2026
September Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Black-headed Paradise-Flycatcher

The red-bellied paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone rufiventer), also known as the black-headed paradise flycatcher, is a medium-sized passerine bird of the family of monarch flycatchers. It is native to intra-tropical forests of Africa. The male bird is about 17 cm (7 in) long and has a black head, a mainly chestnut body, and a tail with streamers nearly twice as long as the body. The colouring is somewhat variable across the bird's range. Both females and juveniles lack the tail streamers and are a duller brown colour. It is closely related to the African paradise flycatcher, and the two can hybridise.

The red-bellied paradise flycatcher was formally described and illustrated in 1837 by the English zoologist William Swainson under the binomial name Muscipeta rufiventer. Although Swainson was describing birds from West Africa, the type locality has been restricted to Senegal. The specific epithet is Modern Latin meaning "red-bellied" from Latin rufus meaning "ruddy" or "rufous" and venter, ventris meaning "belly". The red-bellied paradise flycatcher is now one of 16 paradise flycatchers placed in the genus Terpsiphone that was introduced in 1827 by the German zoologist... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:15

Ivory Coast · 2023

© Étienne Leroy · XC1161851 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:32

Sierra Leone · 2022

© Brendan Sloan · XC910039 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Alarm call0:37

Ghana · 2023

© Alain Verneau · XC792190 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Semuliki National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~50%
2 Kibale National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~40%
3 Taï National Park 🇨🇮 Ivory Coast
~30%
4 Bwindi Impenetrable National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%
5 Queen Elizabeth National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%
6 Lake Mburo National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Kampala 🇺🇬 Uganda
~20%
2 Serrekunda 🇬🇲 Gambia
~10%
3 Accra 🇬🇭 Ghana
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Black-headed Paradise-Flycatcher in Kampala?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Black-headed Paradise-Flycatcher sighting in Kampala on a given day, based on 431 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 54th most-seen of the 332 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Black-headed Paradise-Flycatcher in Kampala?

August and September

In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Black-headed Paradise-Flycatcher in Kampala on a given day, against about 10% in December, the lowest month.

What time of day is best to see a Black-headed Paradise-Flycatcher?

Between 3 and 6 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-headed Paradise-Flycatcher sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Kampala the best place to see a Black-headed Paradise-Flycatcher?

Yes

Of the 3 cities where we can rate Black-headed Paradise-Flycatcher sightings, Kampala has the highest daily chance: about 20%. Next come Serrekunda (Gambia, about 10%) and Accra (Ghana, under 5%).

Where does the Black-headed Paradise-Flycatcher sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Black-headed Paradise-Flycatcher is recorded against all the birds logged in Kampala (431 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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