The Rufous-vented Paradise Flycatcher lives in lowland forests of Central Africa. It has a blue-black head, chestnut upperparts, grey-blue underparts, and elongated central tail feathers in the male.
It is about 18 cm long excluding the tail. The male has a glossy blue-black head with a slight crest, chestnut-rufous upperparts, grey-blue underparts, and elongated central tail feathers. Females are duller with a shorter crest and paler underparts.
It occurs in lowland forest, with regional records from secondary forest, riverine thickets, flooded-forest understory, mangroves, and papyrus stands. It is usually alone or in pairs and may join mixed-species flocks. It catches insects in flight or gleans them from leaves at low and middle levels.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.