Dark-sided flycatcher | |
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In Kaeng Krachan NP, Petchburi, Thailand | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Muscicapidae |
Genus: | Muscicapa |
Species: | M. sibirica |
Binomial name | |
Muscicapa sibirica Gmelin, JF, 1789 | |
The dark-sided flycatcher (Muscicapa sibirica) is a small passerine bird belonging to the genus Muscicapa in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It has a wide breeding distribution in the East Palearctic with northern birds migrating south for the winter. It is also known as the Siberian flycatcher or sooty flycatcher, the latter name is also used for the sooty flycatcher (M. infuscata) of Africa.
The dark-sided flycatcher was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae . He placed it with the flycatchers in the genus Muscicapa and coined the binomial name Muscicapa sibirica. [2] Gmelin based his account on the "Dunn flycatcher" that had been described in 1783 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his multi-volume work A General Synopsis of Birds. Latham reported that the bird was found around Lake Baikal in southern Siberia. [3]
Four subspecies are recognised: [4]
The dark-sided flycatcher is 13 to 14 cm (5.1 to 5.5 in) in overall length. The upperparts are plain and dark grey-brown apart from a pale wingbar and pale edging to the tertial feathers. The breast and flanks have a variable amount of streaky dark grey-brown. The pale submoustachial stripe and dark malar stripe outline the white throat and half-collar. The centre of the lower breast and belly is white while the undertail-coverts are white with dark centres to the feathers. The bill is short and dark and the feet are black. The eye is large and has a whitish ring around it. The adults of both sexes are alike but juveniles have pale spots on the upperparts, a mottled breast and buff tips to the wing-coverts. [5]
The dark-sided flycatcher differs from the similar Asian brown flycatcher (Muscicapa dauurica) which has rather plain pale underparts and from the grey-streaked flycatcher (Muscicapa griseisticta) which is white below with distinct grey streaks. The wings of the dark-sided flycatcher have a longer primary projection than the Asian brown flycatcher. [5] [6]
The song is a series of thin, high-pitched notes with trills and whistles. The call is a metallic tinkling. [5]
The subspecies M. s. sibirica breeds in south-east Siberia westward to beyond Lake Baikal as well as in Mongolia, north-east China, North Korea and Japan (Hokkaidō and northern Honshū). M. s. rothschildi breeds in western China and Myanmar. M. s. gulmergi occurs from Afghanistan to Kashmir with M. s. cacabata from the eastern Himalayas to south-east Tibet and perhaps Myanmar.
The wintering range includes north-east India, Bangladesh, southern China, Taiwan and South-east Asia as far as Sumatra, Java, Borneo and the Philippines (Palawan and Culion). Vagrant birds have been recorded in Alaska, Iceland and Bermuda.
It inhabits coniferous and mixed forest and woodland and is sometimes seen in plantations, parks and gardens. It typically occurs in mountainous regions, reaching 4000 metres above sea-level in some areas.
Like other flycatchers, its feeding technique is to perch on an exposed branch and wait. When an insect flies past, the bird dashes out to snatch it.
The female builds a cup-shaped nest up to 8 metres above the ground, on the branch of a tree or sometimes in a hole. Three to four eggs are laid. These are incubated by the female who is fed by the male. [5]
The spotted flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family. It breeds in most of Europe and in the Palearctic to Siberia, and is migratory, wintering in Africa and south western Asia. It is declining in parts of its range.
The black wheatear is a wheatear, a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is found in southern Spain and western North Africa.
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The blue rock thrush is a species of chat. This thrush-like Old World flycatcher was formerly placed in the family Turdidae. It breeds in southern Europe, northwest Africa, and from Central Asia to northern China and Malaysia. The blue rock thrush is the official national bird of Malta and was shown on the Lm 1 coins that were part of the country's former currency.
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The tawny-flanked prinia is a small passerine bird belonging to the genus Prinia in the family Cisticolidae, a family of Old World warblers. It is widespread and common in most parts of Africa south of the Sahara. The plain prinia of southern Asia was formerly included in this species but is now usually considered to be a separate species.
The Asian brown flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae. The word Muscicapa comes from the Latin musca, a fly and capere, to catch. The specific dauurica refers to Dauria, an area of south-eastern Siberia named after a local nomadic tribe.
The brown-breasted flycatcher or Layard's flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae. The species breeds in north eastern India, central and Southern China and northern Burma and Thailand, and migrates to southern India and Sri Lanka. It forages for insects below the forest canopy, often close to the forest floor.
The bright-rumped attila or polymorphic attila is a small passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family (Tyrannidae). It breeds from northwestern Mexico to western Ecuador, Bolivia and southeastern Brazil, and on Trinidad.
The capped wheatear is a small insectivorous passerine bird that is widely distributed over southern Africa. It was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now placed in the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae.
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The grey-streaked flycatcher or grey-spotted flycatcher is a small passerine bird breeding in the eastern Palearctic belonging to the genus Muscicapa in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. The species was first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1861.
The chorister robin-chat is a species of bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is found in South Africa and Eswatini. Its distribution stretches from the southern Western Cape through the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Mpumalanga to northern Limpopo. Its natural habitat is evergreen forests, especially in the mist belt region.
The pale thrush is a passerine bird of the eastern Palearctic belonging to the genus Turdus in the thrush family Turdidae. It is closely related to the eye-browed thrush and grey-backed thrush.
The ashy flycatcher is a species of bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, excluding the drier areas of South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia, where it inhabits subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, and savanna. It has a disputed generic placement, with different authorities variously putting it in Muscicapa, Fraseria, or other genera. Ashy flycatchers are mostly grey in colour, with pale grey or white underparts, and display no sexual dimorphism.
The whiskered myiobius or bearded flycatcher is a species of bird in the family Tityridae, having previously been included in Tyrannidae. A number of taxonomic authorities continue to place with the flycatchers. The whiskered myiobius is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.
The Vanuatu white-eye or yellow-fronted white-eye is a small passerine bird belonging to the genus Zosterops in the white-eye family Zosteropidae. It is endemic to Vanuatu, where it is one of the most common birds.
The Norfolk robin, also known as the Norfolk Island scarlet robin or Norfolk Island robin, is a small bird in the Australasian robin family Petroicidae. It is endemic to Norfolk Island, an Australian territory in the Tasman Sea, between Australia and New Zealand.
The Mediterranean flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family. It breeds on the Balearic Islands, Corsica and Sardinia, and is migratory, wintering in Africa. The International Ornithologists' Union has split the species from the spotted flycatcher, but other taxonomic authorities considered it still conspecific.