Asian Brown Flycatcher

Muscicapa dauuricaOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Flycatchers (Tyrannidae)

Codes: Common Name: ABFL Scientific Name: MUSDAU ITIS Taxonomic No.: 554346

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Overview

Asian Brown Flycatcher: Small gray-brown flycatcher with white underparts, gray-brown wash on sides, breast. Long gray-brown wings have faint, pale wing bar. Black bill with creamy pink base to lower mandible. Gray face has a white buff eye-ring, lores. Dark gray tail has white undertail coverts.

Range and Habitat

Asian Brown Flycatcher: This bird breeds in Japan, eastern Siberia, and the Himalayas. It is migratory and winters in tropical southern Asia from southern India and Sri Lanka east to Indonesia. Occasionally it has been observed in outer Aleutians and other islands in the Alaskan chain. Found in deciduous, conifer, and mixed woodlands and open cultivated areas; prefers deciduous trees for foraging and nesting.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Voice Text

"seeet-seet"

Interesting Facts

The Asian Brown Flycatcher is an extremely rare vagrant to Western Europe. Records have come from Britain, Denmark, and Sweden.

On October 3rd, 2007 one was discovered at Flamborough Head, East Yorkshire, attracting hundreds of birdwatchers during its stay which lasted until dusk of the following day.

This bird is parasitised by the chewing louse Philopterus davuricae.

A group of flycatchers has many collective nouns, including an "outfield", "swatting", "zapper", and "zipper" of flycatchers.

Bird Term Glossary

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Asian Brown Flycatcher

● Song: "seeet-seet"

● Foraging & Feeding: Asian Brown Flycatcher: Feeds mostly on insects. Perches on an open exposed tree branch perch, immobile and erect, until it spots prey; then flies out to catch it in flight and returns to its perch to eat. Sometimes flicks its wings while hunting.

● Breeding & nesting: Asian Brown Flycatcher: Four to five olive gray eggs are laid in a cup nest made of lichen, moss, and grasses and lined with finer materials. Nest is built by the female and placed on a tree branch or set in fork of a tree. Incubation ranges from 11 to 13 days and is carried out by the female. Young are fed by both sexes. These birds have one brood per year.

● Similar species: Asian Brown Flycatcher: Very similar to Gray-streaked Flycatcher, which is larger with the smaller completely dark bill, longer wings, darker gray brown upperparts, and heavy brown streaking on underparts. In the field Asian Brown Flycatcher can also be confused with Dark-sided Flycatcher, which has darker breast, smaller bill, longer wings, darker gray-brown wash on breast and sides, and darker gray-brown upperparts.

Flight Pattern

Weak fluttering direct flight with somewhat shallow wing beats., Leaves perch to snatch insects in air and returns to the same or nearby perch.

Asian Brown Flycatcher Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Asian Brown Flycatcher: This bird breeds in Japan, eastern Siberia, and the Himalayas. It is migratory and winters in tropical southern Asia from southern India and Sri Lanka east to Indonesia. Occasionally it has been observed in outer Aleutians and other islands in the Alaskan chain. Found in deciduous, conifer, and mixed woodlands and open cultivated areas; prefers deciduous trees for foraging and nesting.

^BreedingMonogamous

^PopulationCasual to accidental

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.4 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Undertail coverts

Small feathers that cover the areas where the retrices (tail feathers) attach to the rump.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

Face

The front part of the head consisting of the bill, eyes, cheeks and chin.

Lower mandible

The lower part of the bill.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America