Appearance:

A small and elegant flycatcher with deep chest, slender vent and fairly long tail. Head rounded and bill thin. Best field mark is the dark tail with white edges at the base (Wheatear-like) shown in all plumages. Often flirts tail, showing the diagnostic markings. Male recognized by Robin-like throat-patch and slate grey head. The red is restricted to the upper throat, and does not extend to the cheeks like in Robin. Very acrobatic flight when hunting. More pronounced flicking of tail than in other flycatchers, with tail sometimes even pointing forward over back, before being let down slowly.

Sound:

Alarm call a sharp and dry "trrrrrt". Song comprised of three continuous sections; first a few separate ascending notes which leads into a motif of 2-3 notes, which then closes with a few falling single notes. Tone is resonant and full, like in Pied Flycatcher.

Alarm 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

CC-photo:Hiyashi Haka, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Large and robust warbler with plain plumage, except for the characteristic cap (black in males, rufous in females and juveniles). Upperparts greyish brown and underparts pale grey. Vent white. No white in tail, as opposed to all other black-capped Sylvias in the region. Easily confused with Garden Warbler if the cap is not seen.

Sound:

Song pleasing, varied and loud. Sometimes very similar to Garden Warbler. A typical phrase starts with soft, staccato chattering and mimicry, which after a few seconds changes to a much louder, pure and resonant stream of notes for about 3-5 seconds. No fixed motif, but may end phrases with recurring notes. Often deviates from the characteristic type of song, and identification from song alone may be impossible. May sing first part of song for extended periods without ever reaching the characteristic ending. Alarm call a hard "check", similar to Lesser White-throat. Sometimes with an additional hoarse and nasal "cherrrr".

Alarm call, song:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

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