Merry Christmas! I thought it would be fitting to post about a bird with a tail that looks like a Christmas ribbon. My original intention was to do one last post about the birds of Botswana but I realized there were several species - including this one, the African Paradise Flycatcher - of which I have multiple photos that I want to share.
These are spectacular birds. They are small: the bodies of both males and females are about 4" in length. The males have tails that stretch another 10" while the females have shorter tails of about 4-5".
There were several pair nesting in the trees around our hut and Ken and I spent a considerable amount of time watching them and trying to capture their quick movements with the camera. Ken actually has a couple of absolutely amazing photos of two males who appear to be fighting with their wings and tails spread in incredible displays of color.
There were two nests that we could see in the trees that had baby flycatchers inside. I was thrilled to get this shot, left, even with the branch in the way. It was the only one I captured with the two chicks visible.
Even the inside of the birds' beaks is bright and colorful.
I love how the shot above shows the texture and pattern of this bird's tail. You can see that the one below is much smoother.
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