Old World Flycatchers
A large family of small passerine birds.
The “Old World” - a fascinating term seemingly like something out of the Lord of the Rings and Jurassic Park put together. But in our case the term "Old World" is used commonly to refer to Asia, Africa and Europe (Afro-Eurasia or the World Island), regarded collectively as the part of the world known to its population before contact with the "New World" (the Americas). In the context of archaeology and world history, the term "Old World" includes those parts of the world which were in (indirect) cultural contact from the Bronze Age onwards, resulting in the parallel development of the early civilizations, mostly in the temperate zone between roughly the 45th and 25th parallels, in the area of the Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, Persian plateau, Indian subcontinent and China. The concept of the three continents in the Old World, viz. Asia, Africa, and Europe, goes back to classical antiquity. Their boundaries as defined by Ptolemy and other geographers of antiquity were drawn along the Nile in what is now Egypt and the Don river in Russia. This definition remained influential throughout the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period.
The Old World
A passerine is any bird of the order Passeriformes (from Latin passer (“sparrow”) + formis (“-shaped”)), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or song birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by the arrangement of their toes (three pointing forward and one back), which facilitates perching. With more than 140 families and some 6,500 identified species, this is the largest order of birds and among the most diverse orders of terrestrial vertebrates. In this blog I will talk about only a handful from this rather large family of birds - the Old World Flycatchers of the superfamily Muscicapoidea containing Old World Flycatchers and Chats. The Chats I will save for a later blog.
The Old World Flycatchers are a large family, the Muscicapidae, of small passerine birds mostly restricted to the Old World (Europe, Africa and Asia). These are mainly small arboreal insectivores, many of which, as the name implies, take their prey on the wing. The family includes 324 species and is divided into 51 genera. The name Muscicapa for the family was introduced by the Scottish naturalist John Fleming in 1822. The word had earlier been used for the genus Muscicapa by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. Muscicapa comes from the Latin musca meaning a fly and capere to catch. The appearance of these birds is very varied, but they mostly have weak songs and harsh calls. They are small to medium birds, ranging from 9 to 22 cm in length. Many species are dull brown in colour, but the plumage of some can be much brighter, especially in the males. Most have broad, flattened bills suited to catching insects in flight, although the few ground-foraging species typically have finer bills. Old World flycatchers live in almost every environment with a suitable supply of trees, from dense forest to open scrub, and even the montane woodland of the Himalayas. The more northerly species migrate south in winter, ensuring a continuous diet of insects.
The family Muscicapidae contains many subfamilies and each sub family contains many tribes. I wrote about the genus Phoenicurus – Redstarts and the genus Myophonus - Whistling Thrushes in earlier blogs. I have a few more planned maybe one on Niltavas from the subfamily Niltavinae but I digress.
Featured here are only a few of these beautiful birds I had the good fortune to observe and photograph across various habitats in Asia Pacific. None of these photos are cropped and at the Thai locations I have used a hide to get close. It has been a game of patience and perseverance and if one waits long enough the birds will come.
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Rufous-browed Flycatcher
The Rufous-browed Flycatcher (Anthipes solitaris) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It was formerly placed in the genus Ficedula. This specimen was photographed near the Bishop’s Trail in Bukit Fraser, Malaysia. I absolutely love Bukit Fraser as it reminds me of our own Queen of the Hills - Ooty and Coonoor - in the blue mountains of India - the Nilgiris. Bukit Fraser, however, is not as populated as Ooty is and still retains it old world charm.
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Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher
The Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher (Ficedula strophiata) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae found in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, ranging across Bangladesh, Bhutan, Hong Kong, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. The rufous-gorgeted flycatcher is also common in the northern Kachin State of Myanmar, in temperate forest areas near boreal mountains. They spend winters in places like Thailand, North Laos, and Vietnam, and the Himalayas are a major breeding range. As the name denotes, they are known for their reddish brown colour with a distinctly coloured patch on their throat. This particular specimen was photographed on the densely forested slopes of Doi Luang in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
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Hill Blue Flycatcher
The Hill Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis banyumas) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in southern China and Southeast Asia. I found the male, pictured above, on the slopes of Doi Ang Khang and the female, pictured below, near a stream on Doi Inthanon. Both mountains are in the Chiang Mai district of Thailand. This was where I also got the Redstarts and the Slaty-backed Forktail which I shall write about in a later blog.
**I do not have a recording for this because the species is under extreme pressure due to trapping or harassment. The open availability of high-quality recordings of these species can make the problems even worse.
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Ultramarine Flycatcher
The ultramarine flycatcher or the white-browed blue flycatcher (Ficedula superciliaris) is a small arboreal Old World flycatcher in the ficedula family that breeds in the foothills of the Himalayas and winters in southern India. Somewhat smaller than a sparrow (ca. 10 cm) and with a stocky build. The male is deep blue above, sides of head and neck are deep blue, and a prominent white patch runs from centre of throat, through breast to belly. The amount of white on the brow and tail show clinal variation from West to East along the Himalayan foothills, which is sometimes taken to distinguish three races. This bird too was photographed in Chiang Mai, Thailand but on the slopes of Doi SanJu.
A special note on these dois since I keep mentioning them:
“Doi”, “Phu”, and “Khao” all mean mountain. Doi is usually used for mountains in the north, Phu in the northeast and Khao in the middle and the south. Sometimes two mountains have the same name but different prefixes. For example, Phu Luang is a mountain in the northeast while Khao Luang is another mountain in the south.
Doi Luang & Doi SanJu in close proximity to the Doi Pha Hom Pok National Park, it is the second highest mountain in Thailand and a part of the Dan Lao Mountain range, northwest of Chiang Mai, sharing the border with Myanmar. Doi SanJu, can be easily accessed from Fang town. The mountain forest and no traffic make it easy to view birds. The entire area is very quiet, secluded and home to rare species like Mrs. Humes Pheasant, Long–tailed Sibia, Himalayan Cutia, Black–throated Tit, Black–eared Shrike Babbler, Whiskered Yuhina, Crimson–breasted Woodpecker, Fire–tailed Sunbird to name a few. There are a few more dois which are a haven for bird and wildlife enthusiasts which I think deserve a write up of their own at a later point in time.
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Pale Blue Flycatcher
The pale blue flycatcher (Cyornis unicolor) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, China, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. It is superficially similar in appearance to the Verditer Flycatcher, but is paler blue, with greyish underparts from throat to vent, and a discontinuous black eye-patch. Both birds can often be found in the same locale.
This little guy was photographed near Hulu Langat in Malaysia - a part of the Bukit Sungai Putih Forest Reserve.
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White-gorgeted Flycatcher
The white-gorgeted flycatcher (Anthipes monileger) is a species of passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family. It is found in Bhutan, Bangladesh, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It was formerly placed in the genus Ficedula. Like the Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher this too was photographed on the densely forested slopes of Doi Luang in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
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Little Pied Flycatcher
The little pied flycatcher (Ficedula westermanni) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, ranging across Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.
This is the female and this too was photographed in Chiang Mai, Thailand but on the slopes of Doi Sanju.
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Slaty-Blue Flycatcher
The Slaty-Blue Flycatcher (Ficedula tricolor) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in the Indian Subcontinent and South East Asia, ranging across Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is sub tropical or tropical moist montane forests. Once again photographed on the slopes of Doi Luang in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The male is featured above and the female below. There is a spot on the mountain where the birds come on either side of the track. If you are pointed south, the male comes on the right and the female on the left. The left side is denser than the right and there is very little light. The photo below was taken on one such morning with high ISO when the light was trickling in from the right of the frame lighting up the back and behind the bird.
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Mangrove Blue Flycatcher
The mangrove blue flycatcher (Cyornis rufigastra) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. This particular specimen was photographed in the Machinchang Cambrian Geoforest Park on the island of Langkawi, Malaysia - the Jewel of Kedah. For these two photos it was pure chance as the bird came and perched directly above where I was standing next to a tree and these two were taken shooting almost straight up. For the second photo I took an additional step towards the tree to get closer but that little movement caused the bird to fly away into the forest but enough to get the photo.
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Tickell's Blue Flycatcher
Tickell's Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis tickelliae) is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family. This is an insectivorous species which breeds in tropical Asia, from the Indian Subcontinent eastwards to Bangladesh and western Myanmar. The Indochinese blue flycatcher was formerly considered conspecific. They are blue on the upper-parts and the throat and breast are rufous. They are found in dense scrub to forest habitats. The name commemorates the British ornithologist Samuel Tickell who collected in India and Burma.
The specimen above was photographed in the Tadoba Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra while the one below was photographed on a rainy day in the Ananthagiri Forests near Vikarabad in Telangana. The Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher was the very first flycatcher I photographed.
Additional videos on my Youtube channel & the Video gallery.
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Black-naped Monarch or Black-naped Blue Flycatcher
The black-naped monarch or black-naped blue flycatcher (Hypothymis azurea) is a slim and agile passerine bird belonging to the family of monarch flycatchers found in southern and south-eastern Asia. They are sexually dimorphic, with the male having a distinctive black patch on the back of the head and a narrow black half collar ("necklace"), while the female is duller with olive brown wings and lacking the black markings on the head. They have a call that is similar to that of the Asian paradise flycatcher, and in tropical forest habitats, pairs may join mixed-species foraging flocks. Populations differ slightly in plumage colour and sizes.
I’ve had the good fortune to photograph these beautiful monarch’s at multiple locations across Asia Pacific. Pictured here are three (I threw the third one in for good luck) from the Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand. The first photo above is an adult, the second is a female and the third, for luck, is an adult incubating. A word here about the third - I took care to approach and leave without disturbing the bird.
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A couple of videos of these beautiful flycatchers. Featured here are the Hill Blue Flycatcher (female) and the Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher which came home. Watch them in full screen to get the most out of the 4K resolution. The bird songs I have leveraged in this blog were sourced from my favourite bird song site Xeno-Canto and are with due credit to the people who spent time and effort recording the songs.
I have a few more videos in the Video Shorts section.
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