The blue-mantled crested flycatcher or African crested flycatcher (Trochocercus cyanomelas) is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae found in eastern and south-eastern Africa.
| Blue-mantled crested flycatcher | |
|---|---|
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| Female photographed in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Monarchidae |
| Genus: | Trochocercus |
| Species: | T. cyanomelas
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| Binomial name | |
| Trochocercus cyanomelas (Vieillot, 1818)
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| Subspecies | |
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See text | |
| Synonyms | |
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Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
Taxonomy and systematics
editThe blue-mantled crested flycatcher was originally described in the genus Muscicapa and some authorities have also classified it in the genus Terpsiphone. Alternate names for the blue-mantled crested flycatcher include blue-mantled flycatcher, blue-mantled paradise-flycatcher, Cape crested-flycatcher and crested flycatcher.
Subspecies
editFive subspecies are recognized:[2]
- T. c. vivax - Neave, 1909: Found from Uganda and north-western Tanzania to south-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and northern and western Zambia
- East African crested flycatcher (T. c. bivittatus) - Reichenow, 1879: Originally described as a separate species. Found from Somalia to eastern Tanzania
- T. c. megalolophus - Swynnerton, 1907: Originally described as a separate species. Found from Malawi and northern Mozambique to Zimbabwe and eastern KwaZulu-Natal (north-eastern South Africa)
- T. c. segregus - Clancey, 1975: Found in eastern Northern Province and western KwaZulu-Natal (north-eastern South Africa)
- T. c. cyanomelas - (Vieillot, 1818): Found in south and south-eastern South Africa
Diet
editLike all members of the monarch flycatcher family, the blue-mantled crested flycatcher is insectivorous.
References
edit- ^ BirdLife International (2017). "Trochocercus cyanomelas". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T103715475A112354548. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T103715475A112354548.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- ^ "IOC World Bird List 6.3". IOC World Bird List Datasets. doi:10.14344/ioc.ml.6.3.
External links
edit- Blue-mantled crested flycatcher - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds.
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