Black Paradise Flycatcher

Black Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone atrocaudata) is a glossy black, chestnut and white flycatcher whose adult male carries exceptionally long central tail feathers. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in Japan and nearby East Asia, migrates south for winter and catches flying insects beneath forest canopies, often making short aerial sallies from a perch. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).