The Japanese Paradise-flycatcher (Terpsiphone atrocaudata), also called the Black Paradise-flycatcher, is a medium-sized passerine bird. It was previously classified with the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, but the paradise-flycatchers, monarch flycatchers and Australasian fantails are now normally grouped with the drongos in the family Dicruridae, which has most of its members in Australasia and tropical southern Asia. The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. ... Image File history File links Status_iucn3. ... Near Threatened (NT) is an conservation status assigned to species or lower taxa which may be considered threatened with extinction in the near future, although it does not currently qualify for the threatened status. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... “Animalia” redirects here. ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... “Aves” redirects here. ... Families Many, see text A passerine is a bird of the giant order Passeriformes. ... Subfamilies Monarchinae Rhipidurinae Dicrurinae The family Dicruridae is a relatively recent grouping of a number of seemingly very different birds, mostly from the southern hemisphere, which are more closely related than they at first appear. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal system of naming species. ... Thomas Campbell Eyton (September 10, 1809 - October 25, 1880) was an English naturalist. ... Families Many, see text A passerine is a bird of the giant order Passeriformes. ... “Aves” redirects here. ... Genera See text. ... Fantails are small, insectivorous birds of Australasia belonging to the genus Rhipidura. ... Genera Chaetorhynchus Dicrurus The drongos are a subfamily of small passerine birds of the Old World tropics. ... Subfamilies Monarchinae Rhipidurinae Dicrurinae The family Dicruridae is a relatively recent grouping of a number of seemingly very different birds, mostly from the southern hemisphere, which are more closely related than they at first appear. ... Australasia Australasia is a term variably used to describe a region of Oceania: Australia, New Zealand, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ...

The Japanese Paradise-flycatcher is mainly migratory and breeds in shady mature deciduous or evergreen broadleaf forest of Japan (southern Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu and the Nansei Shoto islands), South Korea, Taiwan (including Lanyu island) and the far north Philippines. It is a non-breeding visitor to mainland China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and Sumatra, Indonesia.

There are three subspecies, the nominate T. a. atrocaudata which breeds through most of Japanese/Korean range, T. a. illex which is resident in the Ryukyu Islands, and T. a. periophthalmica restricted to Lanyu Island off southeast Taiwan.

The Japanese Paradise-flycatcher is similar in appearance to the Asian Paradise Flycatcher but slightly smaller. Mature males have a black hood with a purplish-blue gloss which shades into blackish-grey on the chest. The underparts are off-white to white. The mantle, back, wings and rump are plain dark chestnut. The tail has extremely long black central feathers, which are shorter in immature males. Unlike the Asian Paradise Flycatcher there is no white morph. The female resembles the male but is duller and darker brown on the chestnut areas. It has black legs and feet, a large black eye with a blue eye-ring, and a short blue bill. Binomial name Terpsiphone paradisi Linnaeus, 1758 The Asian Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi), also known as the Common Paradise Flycatcher, is a medium-sized passerine bird. ...

The song is rendered in Japanese as tsuki-hi-hoshi, hoi-hoi-hoi, which translates to Moon-Sun-Stars and gives the Japanese name of the bird サンコウチョウ (三光鳥) sanōchō (literally, bird of three lights, ie moon, sun, star, from san three + kō lights + chō bird).

A recent survey detected a steep decline in part of the Japanese breeding population which has presumably occurred because of forest loss and degradation in its winter range.

References

• BirdLife International (2006). Terpsiphone atrocaudata. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2007.
• Birds of East Asian, Mark Brazil, 2007 (in press).
• Birds of East Asia & Mainland Southeast Asia: Glossary of Species Names in Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese (http://www.cjvlang.com/Birds/drongo.html) (accessed 12 May 2007)