Slaty-backed Flycatcher
Ficedula erithacus
Slender flycatcher of hilly and montane forests. Male is slate blue-gray above and orange below; it is duller and darker than male blue flycatchers and lacks the wingbars of the stockier male Mugimaki Flycatcher. Female is dull brown with a faint tan wash to the upper breast and rufous tones on the tail; like the male, lacks wingbars. As with many other forest flycatchers, Slaty-backed usually sallies out to forage in clearings, edges, and near trails, typically at middle levels of the forest. Listen for its beautiful song, an undulating series of short high-pitched whistles. Calls include a high thin “tsii” and a rattling “drrrrt” reminiscent of a frog.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Ficedula erithacus
- Authority
- (Blyth, 1861)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Muscicapidae
- Genus
- Ficedula
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Black-rumped Waxbill
Estrilda troglodytes
A tiny finch of dry grasslands, thickets, and grassy woodlands. Similar to Common Waxbill, but note black rump, unbarred back, white (not dark) undertail, and square-tipped tail. Sexes are similar, but males have a faint pink wash on the underparts that females lack. Gives various nasal and rasping calls; song is two note ‘chee-churr!’. Native to Africa and introduced to several Caribbean islands, Japan, Spain, and the Hawaiian islands (apparently now extirpated).
Ross's Gull
Rhodostethia rosea
Long-winged, wedge-tailed, delicate seabird of far northern climates, nesting in open wet tundra and wintering around sea ice, occasionally moving into coastal areas. Breeding adult astonishingly beautiful: pearly gray above, rose-pink below, with coral-red legs, thin black collar, and tiny black bill. Nonbreeding adult has a tiny black dot near the ear and loses the black collar and much or all of the pink coloration. First-winter birds have blackish “M” pattern in upperwing and black tip on wedge-shaped tail. Flight graceful and buoyant.
Flores Scops-Owl
Otus alfredi
A small owl with yellow eyes, a pale bill, an unmarked rufous face and ear tufts, a pale forehead, mainly rufous upperparts with prominent white spots in the wings, and a faintly-scaled pale grayish underside. Juvenile is largely pale rufous, with little barring but strong tail bands. Inhabits montane forest on Flores. Distinguished from larger Wallace’s and Moluccan Scops-Owls by rufous appearance, pale bill, lack of prominent dark facial border, and absence of bold streaking on underparts. Song is a distinctive crake-like, stuttering “da-da-da-da-da-da-da,” wavering in pitch.
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