Appearance:

Largest flycatcher in covered area. Easily overlooked bird with greyish brown upperparts and pale underparts. Crown and chest speckled. Bill and legs black. Slim white fringes to flight feathers and greater coverts. Body, wings and bill longer than in Pied Flycatcher, leaving a more elongated impression. Erect posture. Behaviour similar to congeners, with rapid darts and frequent hovering when hunting insects. Flicks tail and wings while perched.

Sound:

The discreet calls often goes unnoticed. Most calls high pitched with a buzzing, "electric" timbre. Alarm call a sharp, drawn "tzreeeee-check", with the second syllable abruptly clipping the sound. Song a primitive, slow series of various buzzing and very high pitched sounds. No recurring phrases.

Song:

Distribution:

Xeno-canto: map

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

Appearance:

Large and bulky Sylvia-warbler, with grey upperparts, and white to cream underparts. Adult males easily distinguished at close range, by barred underparts and yellow iris. Eye darker in females and young males. Pale, or white fringes to coverts and tertials evident in most plumages, but may be faint in young birds. Tail-corners white, and under tail-coverts always spotted. Most plumage characters difficult to see at a distance, and the general bulky and long-tailed impression of the bird, together with the white tail-corners seen in flight, are more useful for ID. Sometimes resembles more a shrike than a warbler, especially in flight.

Sound:

Varied repertoire, but mostly silent when not breeding. Contact call a rolling, dry "trrrrrrrrr-r-r-t, often with ritardando ending, of 1-2 seconds length. Also a Blackcap-like "check". Song varies among individuals and location, but is generally quite similar to Garden Warbler. Often contains mimicry of Red-backed Shrike, and other species. Phrases usually quite short, with rapid alternations between sequences of squeaky, high-pitched sounds and warbling, fluty (often disyllabic) notes. This creates a slightly bouncing rhythm, different from Garden Warbler. Sometimes includes contact call in song, which makes ID easier.

Contact call/song:

Distribution:

Xeno-canto: map

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC