Moluccan Flycatcher
Myiagra galeata
Male is a black-and-white songbird with a uniform blackish-blue upperside and gleaming white underparts. Female and juvenile are gray above with a peach wash on throat and breast. Usually found in pairs in lowlands and foothills, inhabiting a variety of habitats with trees, like mangroves, plantations, and forest edge, typically in the understory and subcanopy. Male Moluccan Flycatcher distinguished from female Shining Flycatcher by uniformly dark back. White throat distinguishes male from Black-chinned and Black-tipped Monarchs. Gives a strident, ringing, uniformly-pitched “wit-wit-wit-wit-wit” song as well as rasping, metallic “wheer” calls.
Taxonomy
Alternate names for the Moluccan flycatcher include helmet flycatcher, helmeted broadbill, helmeted flycatcher, Moluccan Myiagra, Moluccan Myiagra flycatcher and slaty monarch. The latter name should not be confused with the species of the same name, Mayrornis lessoni.<p>There are three subspecies recognized:
- Scientific name
- Myiagra galeata
- Authority
- Gray, GR, 1861
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Monarchidae
- Genus
- Myiagra
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Yellow-rumped Flycatcher
Ficedula zanthopygia
Gaudy male striking, with yolk-yellow underparts and rump and black upperparts set off by white supercilium and wing patch. Female less brightly colored but still distinctive, with brown upperparts, a smaller yellow rump and white wing patch, and whitish underparts with faint scaling on the breast. Breeds in broadleaf and mixed forests, especially groves in riparian areas. Can be encountered in a wide range of wooded areas outside of the breeding season, from coastal scrub to pristine hill forests. Song is a short, thrush-like series of burry whistles.
Green Broadbill
Calyptomena viridis
Luminous green bird with an oddly umbrella-like head shape, found in lowland forests. Male has black wingbars and a dark “comma” behind the eye. Female is paler green and plainer overall, with no dark markings. In Borneo, overlaps with Hose’s and Whitehead’s Broadbills, both of which tend to be found at higher elevations. In Green Broadbill, note the lack of black on females in any plumage, the clear bars on the wings instead of spots, and the overall larger size. Gives soft, bouncy hooting notes, often in series.
Black Pitohui
Melanorectes nigrescens
A medium-sized bird with a hooked bill of montane forest. Male is all black and female dull brown. Forages singly or in pairs at all levels in the forest, looking for insects. Male somewhat similar to Drongo Fantail, but Black Pitohui male has more horizontal posture and lacks the flat head. Similar to MacGregor’s Bowerbird female, but female Black Pitohui is smaller, with a hooked bill. Voice, a slow, rising “pooiii!”, a quicker rising “whip-whip-whip…” sometimes speaded up into a trill, and also a forceful, downward “tiiaoo!”.
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