The Seychelles Black Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone corvina or the Vev in Creole is endemic to Seychelles, you cannot find this bird anywhere else on earth. Although it was once widespread on Praslin and all its surrounding islands, the Vev was restricted to La Digue, where it is quite common. 23 adult birds were translocated from La Digue to Denis Island in November 2008, with the hope of eventually establishing a population of 40-50 birds on the island. The first chick successfully fledged on Denis Island in 2009 and a population of about 70 birds now thrives here. Birds were also transferred to Curieuse Island in 2018.
Birds have been seen on Marianne but it does not seem to breed there. The Vev thrives in tall forest of native trees (takamaka and bodanmyen), especially on the plateau of La Digue. It feeds on insects, flying to catch them in mid-air or pick them from underneath leaves. The original goal was to increase the number of breeding populations to three and to be able to reclassify the species from Critically Endangered to Vulnerable on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Animals. The overall population is steadily increasing and the bird has been reclassified as Vulnerable.
Facts
Scientific name: Terpsiphone corvina
Conservation status: Vulnerable
Population in Seychelles: 350-506 mature individuals
Distribution in Seychelles: La Digue, Denis, Curieuse
Habitat: Native forest
Nest: Small cup-shaped, built of fine pieces of casuarina, coconut fibre stuck together with spider webs, at the tips of down-hanging twigs. One egg
Diet: Winged insects and spiders, caught in mid-air or picked from leaves
Identification: A small bird, males glossy back with long tail feathers, females and young with a shorter tail
See more:
Angry Birds fight extinctions!
Partnership for Seychelles iconic bird
Hope for Seychelles’ Last Critically Endangered Species
Translocation Success: Seychelles Paradise Flycatchers Take to Denis
Species Fact Sheet at BirdLife Data Zone
(Photo credit: Dave Rogers)