NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Indian Paradise Flycatcher
Terpsiphone paradisi (Linnaeus, 1758)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
An Indian Paradise Flycatcher on Kailasagiri.
Drashokk · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Indian paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi) is a medium-sized passerine bird in the monarch flycatcher family, Monarchidae. As the global population is considered stable, it has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2004. It is native to the Indian subcontinent, with resident and breeding populations in most of Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka, as well as parts of Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
The Indian paradise flycatcher has a length of 20–50 cm (7.9–19.7 in) from beak to tail. Males have elongated central tail feathers, and a black and rufous plumage in some populations, while others have white plumage. Females are short-tailed with rufous wings and a black head. Indian paradise flycatchers feed on insects, including grasshoppers, butterflies and praying mantises, as well as flies. The Indian paradise flycatcher typically captures prey in the air, kills it by hitting it on a rock, and then extracts the inner parts. often below a densely canopied tree.
Wikipedia contributors, Indian paradise flycatcher; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T11:29:41.865188+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Terpsiphone paradisi (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- Indian Paradise Flycatcher
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Monarchidae
- Genus
- Terpsiphone
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyMonarchidae Bonaparte, 1854
- genusTerpsiphone Gloger, 1827
- speciesTerpsiphone paradisi (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Terpsiphone. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Bates's Paradise FlycatcherTerpsiphone batesi Chapin, 1921 | MonarchidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mascarene Paradise FlycatcherTerpsiphone bourbonnensis (P. L. S. Müller, 1776) | MonarchidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sao Tome Paradise FlycatcherTerpsiphone atrochalybeia (Thomson, 1842) | MonarchidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Malagasy Paradise FlycatcherTerpsiphone mutata (Linnaeus, 1766) | MonarchidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Rufous Paradise FlycatcherTerpsiphone cinnamomea (Sharpe, 1877) | MonarchidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Amur Paradise FlycatcherTerpsiphone incei (Gould, 1852) | MonarchidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Corvus paradisi Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Southern Asia
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=563369 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:7C3M8. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.