Africa Wild Bird Book

[Dewi]

698. Fiscal Flycatcher Melaenornis silens (Fiskaalvlieevanger)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Muscicapidae. Subfamily: Muscicapinae

Description
17-20 cm.
Male has distinctive black and white plumage. Black above and greyish white below (breast and flanks darker than throat and belly) with white wing patches and white sides to the tail.
Adult female: Dark grey-brown, not black, above and browner below.
The juvenile is like the female but duller and with brown spots and scalloping above and below.
Similar species: Often confused with Southern Fiscal, but has a shorter tail and a short stubby bill which is not hooked at the tip. And the shrike has a white patch on the shoulder rather than the lower wing, and has no white on its longer tail. The Fiscal Flycatcher is larger than the male Collared Flycatcher, which has a white collar and lacks white wing panels.

Taxonomy
There are two subspecies. M. s. lawsoni is from North-West Province, north-western Northern Cape Province, extreme western Free State Province (South Africa), and south-eastern Botswana; It is slightly buffy and paler below than the nominate race. M. s. silens is found in most of the rest of South Africa, Swaziland, southern Mozambique, the lowlands of Lesotho, and the extreme south of Zimbabwe.

Distribution
Endemic to southern Africa, but absent from arid regions, occurring from south-eastern Botswana and the extreme south of Mozambique to Swaziland and South Africa.

Habitat
Scrubland, bushy areas and gardens.

Diet
The Fiscal Flycatcher feeds on insects, often taken in flight and occasionally joins mixed-species foraging flocks. Most foraging is conducted from a perch, often on the top of a bush or small tree, or on a fence, powerline or telephone line.

Breeding
The nest is built solely by the female, consisting of a bulky, open cup built of stems of dry grass combined with other plants, as well as string and rags if the nest is near urban areas. The interior is usually thickly lined with material such as soft plant down, feathers, rootlets, Galium tomentosum (Old man's beard), wool, fine grass and hair, in fact there is a record of a Fiscal Flycatcher attempting to pluck hair from a person's head! It is typically placed in a thick forked branch, on a branch adjacent to a tree trunk, among dead aloe leaves, inside a dead stump or branch. Egg-laying season is from about July-February, peaking around October-December. It lays 2-4 eggs, which are incubated solely by the female for about 13-16 days, all the while being fed by the male. The chicks are fed solely by the female, while the male takes little interest, leaving the nest after about 15-17 days. The fledglings are still fed by their parents after leaving the nest.
Parasitised by the Jacobin Cuckoo.

Call
The song is a weak chittering, and the alarm call is tssisk. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Common endemic resident.


Male

[Dewi]

698. Fiscal Flycatcher Melaenornis silens (Fiskaalvlieevanger)


Female

© Flutterby

© Amoli
Rietvlei, Gauteng

© Flutterby
Juvenile

Links:
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/698.pdf
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/spp_summary.ph ... &section=3

[Toko]

691. Ashy Flycatcher (formerly known as Blue-grey Flycatcher) Muscicapa caerulescens (Blougrysvlieëvanger)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Muscicapidae

Ashy Flycatcher.jpg (113.04 KiB) Viewed 1394 times

Description
Size 14-16 cm. This is a pale grey or blue-grey flycatcher of forest margins. The black loral line and the short white supraloral streak which joins the narrow white eye-ring are good diagnostic features for this bird. Sexes alike.
Adult: Upper parts bluish grey; lores black, bordered above by white stripe, both extending marginally behind eye. Tail brownish black, outer webs of rectrices fringed slate. Upper wing coverts brownish black, edged grey. Flight feathers brownish black, inner secondaries and tertials with greyer outer webs. Tertials tipped white, outer webs edged whitish. Axillaries and underwing coverts white. Throat very pale grey; breast pale grey, grading to whitish belly. Bill blackish, base of lower mandible pinkish to grey. Eyes brown, eye ring white. Legs and feet dark grey to black.
Juvenile is spotted dark brown above and speckled blackish below.
Similar species: Told from Grey Tit-Flycatcher by the more erect stance, striking facial pattern and plain (not white-edged) grey tail. Grey Tit- Flycatcher has continually flicked and fanned (Ashy Flycatcher does not fan tail).
Spotted and African Dusky Flycatchers browner, with upper breasts streaked (not plain); lack white eye rings and contrasting lores. Pale Flycatcher larger, browner; black facial markings less pronounced.

Distribution
It occurs in patches in patches from West Africa to Somalia south through DRC, Tanzania, Zambia and Angola to southern Africa. Here it is locally fairly common in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and eastern South Africa, extending west to northern Botswana and Namibia.



Habitat
It can occupy almost any type of woodland excluding arid savanna, but it generally prefers clearings and edges of evergreen forest, dense thickets in woodland, riverine woodland and gardens.

Diet
It mainly eats insects, which it catches in sallies from a perch, catching prey from the air or the tree canopy and gleaning food from leaves and branches. Occasionally eats small fruit.

Breeding
Monogamous and territorial. The nest is built by both sexes, consisting of a bulky cup built of plant fibres such as thin bark strips, dry grass, rootlets, green moss and spider web, lined with finer plant material. It is typically placed in a cavity in a tree trunk, fork between thick branches, crevice in bark, shallow hole in a tree stump or under the eaves of a veranda. Egg-laying season is from about September-January. It lays 2-4 cream, finely spotted eggs, which are incubated for about 14 days. The chicks are fed by both parents, leaving the nest after about 14 days.
Parasitism by Klaas's Cuckoo has been recorded.

Call
Its song is a sszzit-sszzit-sreee-sreee. Also a 4-syllable pit PIT pit-pit, and variations thereof. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Common resident with some local and altitudinal movements; usually in pairs.


Ithala

[Toko]

691. Ashy Flycatcher Muscicapa caerulescens (Blougrysvlieëvanger)

© Dewi
Kruger National Park, Pafuri

© nan
Kruger National Park

© Duke
Kruger National Park

© Dewi
Kruger National Park, Sirheni

Links:
Species text Sabap1
Sabap2
Chamberlain's LBJs

[Dewi]

690. African Dusky Flycatcher Muscicapa adusta (Donkervlieevanger)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Muscicapidae

African Dusky Flycatcher.jpg (119.05 KiB) Viewed 1400 times

Description
12 cm. A small, grey-brown Flycatcher with diffuse streaking on the breast. Note that the head is un-streaked. Its upperparts are plain brown, it has an indistinct narrow pale eye-ring. The chin is plain pale grey, and the rest of the underparts are grey-brown with indistinct streaks. The short, straight, laterally flattened bill is black, the legs and feet are grey, and the eyes are brown. It has a short tail which gives it a characteristic dumpy appearance. The sexes are similar.
The juvenile is spotted with buff above, and is whitish spotted with brown below.
Similar species: This species is similar to the the Spotted Flycatcher, but is smaller and darker, especially on the underparts, than that species. Spotted Flycatcher also has a streaked forehead, a feature not shown by the African Dusky Flycatcher.

Taxonomy
Four subspecies are recognized in the region:
M. a. mesica in the miombo of the central plateau in Zimbabwe, and
M. a. subadusta in the eastern highlands of Zimbabwe
The range of M. a. fuscula in the lowlands, from the Eastern Cape to KwaZulu-Natal, is less well separated from
M. a. adusta which occupies the area to the southwest and north, and in the highlands.

Distribution
From Ethiopia through Kenya and Tanzania to Zambia, southern DRC and southern Africa. Here it is common in South Africa along the coastal belt from the Cape to Mozambique and Swaziland, with a more scarce population in Zimbabwe (although common in the eastern highlands). It ranges from the southwestern Cape Province to KwaZulu-Natal, where the range broadens, taking in the Drakensberg fringes up to 1800 m, and continuing north through Swaziland and the eastern Cape.



Habitat
Woodland edge, suburban gardens and riverine forest edge.

Movements and migrations
Resident in Zimbabwe but partially migratory in South Africa, with birds moving east in winter.

Diet
It forages from an open perch for insects typically taking its prey in a short flight.

Breeding
The African Dusky Flycatcher is monogamous, mating for life. Both sexes construct the nest in up to 22 days, consisting of an untidy open cup, usually built of dead leaves, moss, grass, lichens, creepe tendrils, feathers and spider web and lined with more fine material, although it can be made entirely out of moss. It is typically placed in a cavity. It may use the nest of another bird, such as a Red-winged Starling, barbet, Cape Weaver or a Cape Canary. Egg-laying season is from September-January, peaking from October-November. The female lays 2-3 green eggs, which are incubated solely by the female for about 14-15 days, all the while fed by the male at the nest. The chicks are mainly brooded by the female but fed by both sexes, leaving the nest after about 17, rarely 22 days. It usually rears two broods per breeding season, meaning that fledglings often leave after only 5 more days, so that the female can lay the next egg clutch.

Call
The African Dusky Flycatcher has soft, high-pitched tzeeet and tsirit calls. Listen to Bird Call.

[Dewi]

690. African Dusky Flycatcher Muscicapa adusta (Donkervlieevanger)



© Dewi

© Dewi

© Lisbeth
Juvenile

© Lisbeth
Juvenile

© BluTuna
Ngwenya Lodge

Links:
Species text Sabap1
http://sabap2.adu.org.za/species_info.p ... #menu_left
Chamberlain's LBJs

[Amoli]

689. Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata (Europese Vlievanger)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Muscicapidae

Spotted Flycatcher.jpg (107.79 KiB) Viewed 1402 times

Description
Length 13.5-15 cm. A medium-sized slim grey-brown flycatcher.
Adult: Forehead and crown dull brown, diffusely streaked off-white. Lores buff, streaked brown; cheeks pale brown, streaked paler brown. Nape brown, almost unstreaked, grading into plain, dull, pale brown back and rump. Tail brown, outer webs of outer rectrices pale brown. Wings brown, primary coverts and tertials with outer edges buff; underwing coverts buff. Chin and centre of throat dirty white, sides of throat and breast diffusely streaked off-white and pale brown. Belly pale buff; vent cream. Flanks dull, pale brown. Bill blackish horn, base of lower mandible dull pink. Eyes brown. Legs and feet greyish brown.
Juvenile: As adult, but some upper tail coverts and wing coverts with slightly paler tips.
Similar species: This species is similar to the African Dusky Flycatcher but is larger, has a streaky crown, pale underparts with streaking on the breast only, and lacks an eye-ring. Pale and Marico Flycatchers are unstreaked.

Distribution Found in Europe, North Africa and east to Siberia, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Mongolia to south-east Transbaikalia. Found throughout Britain and Ireland but are far more scarce in the north of Scotland and the west coast of Ireland. A summer visitor that winters in Africa. In southern Africa it is common and widespread.

Habitat
It can occupy almost any open habitat with low perches, even moving into the Namib Desert of Namibia if there are adequate perches available. It is regularly visits gardens with trees, and may also move into previously barren areas if they have stands of alien trees, such as pine plantations in the Free State Province.

Migration and movements: A palearctic summer migrant, breeding in north-western Africa and Eurasia and flying south to sub-Saharan africa in the non-breeding season. It typically arrives in southern Africa during the period from mid October to late November, leaving around mid March to early April.

Diet
As the name indicates, they feed on flying insects, doing most of its foraging from a low perch from which it hawks insects from the air, often moving from perch to perch in search of more food.

Breeding
Nests are built in sheltered locations from twigs, moss and grass with a soft lining of hair, wool and feathers. Between 4 and 5 pale brown-blotched eggs are laid in the first clutch, and a second brood may be produced which is usually smaller than the first. In some cases the first brood assists the parents in raising the second. The breeding season runs from May to August.

Call
The voice is thin but distinctive, including a see tk-tk when disturbed. Listen to Bird Call.

Satus
Common summer visitor. The Spotted Flycatcher is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List. The species has been undergoing a substantial decline since the 1960s.

[Amoli]

689. Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata (Europese Vlievanger)

Welsh: Gwybedog Manno; Dutch: Bruine vliegenvanger; German: Brauner Fliegenschnäpper: Swedish: Glasögonflugsnappare



© Pumbaa

© Pumbaa

© Pumbaa


Links:
Species text Sabap1
Sabap2
Chamberlain's LBJs
ARKive: http://www.arkive.org/spotted-flycatche ... a-striata/
Oiseaux net: http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-spott ... tcher.html

[Flutterby]

601. Cape Robin-Chat Cossypha caffra (Gewone Janfrederik)
Order: Passeriformes. Family: Muscicapidae



Description
18-20 cm. The adult's upperparts are grey, and the face sides in front of and behind the eye are blackish, separated from the crown by a white supercilium. The chin, throat, central breast, rump, undertail coverts and outer tail feathers are orange, and the central tail feathers are greyish-brown. In flight shows orange tail feathers and back. The belly is pale grey. The black bill is short and straight, with a slightly down-curved upper mandible. The legs and feet are pinkish grey, and the eye is brown. Sexes are alike.
Juveniles are brownish above and buff below and heavily mottled with buff and black.
Similar species: Best distinguished from White-browed Robin-Chat by its shorter white eyebrow stripe, and by the orange on the underparts being confined to the throat and upper breast.

Distribution
The Cape Robin-Chat is a resident breeder in southern and eastern Africa in patches from southern Sudan to Kenya, eastern DRC and Tanzania, with the largest population in southern Africa. Here it is common across South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, southern Mozambique and southern Namibia, with an isolated population in Zimbabwe's eastern Highlands.

Habitat
Forest edge, bushveld, scrub and fynbos, gardens and parks (except on the KwaZulu-Natal coast where it is mainly a winter visitor).

Diet
It mainly eats insects and other invertebrates, supplemented with fruit and seeds plucked from bushes, trees or the ground. It does a lot of its foraging in leaf litter, flicking through plant debris in search of food and occasionally aerially hawking an insect.

Breeding
The Cape Robin-Chat is a monogamous, highly territorial solitary nester, as the male aggressively defends his territory against other males as well as other species, such as white-eyes, sunbirds and doves. The nest is usually built solely by the female in about 1-14 days, gathering a clump of material together before shuffling its body into it to form a cup. It is usually made out of bark fragments, twigs, dry grass, fern fronds, rootlets, dead leaves, moss and seed pods and lined with finer fibres, such as hair, rootlets and plant inflorescences. It is most commonly placed in a hollow in an earthen bank, cavity in a tree trunk, densely foliaged shrub, dry flood debris along a stream bank, or in pots or boxes overgrown with vegetation. Egg-laying season is from about June-January, peaking around October-November. It lays 2-3 pale blue eggs, which are incubated solely by the female for about 14-19 days. The female broods the chicks throughout the night and intermittently through the day, for the first 5-11 days of their lives. They are fed by both parents, eventually leaving the nest at about 14-18 days old, remaining dependent on their parents for about 5-7 weeks more.

Call
Its song is a series of melodious phrases, usually starting with cheroo-weet-weet-weeeet and also often mimics other birds. Alarm call a gutteral wur-da-durrr. Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Common resident.

[Flutterby]

601. Cape Robin-Chat Cossypha caffra (Gewone Janfrederik)

© Amoli

© Mel

© Dewi

Links:
Species text Sabap1
Sabap2
Birds of Botswana
Newman's birds of Southern Africa