Tickell's Blue Flycatcher
Encyclopedia
The Tickell's Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis tickelliae) is a small passerine
bird
in the flycatcher
family. This is an insectivorous species which breeds in tropical southern Asia
from India
and Sri Lanka
to Indonesia
. They are blue on the upperparts and the throat and breast are rufous. They are found in dense scrub to forest habitats.
Females are duller, and the red is reduced in intensity and extent. Juvenile birds have scaly brown upperparts, head and breast, with just the wings and tail being blue. They have sometimes been to feed even after dusk. Apart from flying insects they have been noted to occasionally glean crawling insects.
The widespread species shows regional variations in plumage and size and several of these populations have been designated with subspecies names. The nominate form is found in India, Nepal and Myanmar. The Sri Lankan population is separated as jerdoni (or nesea/mesaea said to be darker) and the population in Thailand and southern Myanmar is named as indochina. Further south is the form sumatrensis (Sumatra Island, Malaysia) and lamprus on Anamba Island.
In the past this species has been considered as a subspecies of the Blue-throated Flycatcher
(Cyornis rubeculoides) which resembles this but has a blue throat.
They feed mainly by capturing insects in flight but their prey include other insects such as termites and earwigs that may be gleaned or picked from the ground.
The breeding season is April to August (March to June in Sri Lanka). It nests in a hole in a tree or amongst rocks that is lined with fine grass and fibres and lay 3-5 eggs.
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
in the flycatcher
Old World flycatcher
The Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae is a large family of small passerine birds mostly restricted to the Old World. These are mainly small arboreal insectivores, many of which, as the name implies, take their prey on the wing.-Characteristics:...
family. This is an insectivorous species which breeds in tropical southern Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
to Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. They are blue on the upperparts and the throat and breast are rufous. They are found in dense scrub to forest habitats.
Description
The Tickell's Blue Flycatcher is about 11–12 cm long. It sits upright and often forages in the undergrowth. The male has the upperparts dark blue and the throat breast and flanks are orange fading into the buffy white belly. The female is duller blue with a brighter blue brow, shoulder, rump and tail. It hybridizes with the Pale-chinned Flycatcher (Cyornis poliogenys) in the Eastern Ghats of India and these hybrids have sometimes been called the subspecies vernayi. The juvenile is streaked and has a spotted mantle.It is an upright long-tailed flycatcher. The male is a beautiful bird which has bright blue upperparts, a red throat and breast, and the rest of the underparts white.Females are duller, and the red is reduced in intensity and extent. Juvenile birds have scaly brown upperparts, head and breast, with just the wings and tail being blue. They have sometimes been to feed even after dusk. Apart from flying insects they have been noted to occasionally glean crawling insects.
The widespread species shows regional variations in plumage and size and several of these populations have been designated with subspecies names. The nominate form is found in India, Nepal and Myanmar. The Sri Lankan population is separated as jerdoni (or nesea/mesaea said to be darker) and the population in Thailand and southern Myanmar is named as indochina. Further south is the form sumatrensis (Sumatra Island, Malaysia) and lamprus on Anamba Island.
In the past this species has been considered as a subspecies of the Blue-throated Flycatcher
Blue-throated Flycatcher
The Blue-throated Flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It resembles Cyornis tickelliae but easily separated by the blue throat. The habitat of this species is a thicker forest than other species of flycatchers...
(Cyornis rubeculoides) which resembles this but has a blue throat.
Habitat and distribution
The Tickell's Blue Flycatcher breeds in dry forest, scrub, bamboo and gardens.Behaviour and ecology
The metallic song of the bird includes a series of clicks followed by five or six notes that end abruptly. The metallic song consists of short clicks followed by five or six notes resembling that of the White-browed Fantail-flycatcher. Alarm calls include churr and clicking notes.They feed mainly by capturing insects in flight but their prey include other insects such as termites and earwigs that may be gleaned or picked from the ground.
The breeding season is April to August (March to June in Sri Lanka). It nests in a hole in a tree or amongst rocks that is lined with fine grass and fibres and lay 3-5 eggs.
External links
- Photos and videos at the Internet Bird Collection