White-tailed Flycatcher

Long-tailed, long-legged bird with bold head and chest markings. Elusive and shy; unlikely to be seen by those not searching for it. Found in a small portion of Madagascar’s southwestern spiny forest, at low elevation on sandy soils. Feeds on the ground, avoiding disturbance by running away. Song is a high, short “tuk” note delivered in a quick series. Unmistakable within its tiny range. 

A small bird with a very long blue tail that is held cocked. Breeding male has a bright pale-blue helmet, black breast, purple back, and chestnut shoulders. Small pale tips are sometimes visible on the tail. Over much of the species’s inland range, females are overall grayish birds with pale fronts and long blue tails; however, females of the subspecies found in the sandstone regions of the Kimberley and Arnhem Land have contrasting blue crowns and backs. This species occurs over much of arid inland Australia and is found in open vegetation.

Medium-sized Myiarchus flycatcher very similar to Ash-throated Flycatcher of western North America but slightly brighter overall, with bushier crest and browner face. Best identified by voice. Ash-throated is a winter migrant throughout much of Nutting’s range. One form of Nutting’s occurs in arid scrub and oak woods of lowlands and foothills; its commonest calls are a loud “wheek” and bickering “kwidik-kwidik.” A second form of Nutting’s (“Ridgway’s Flycatcher”) occurs in hedges and semiopen country in lowlands from Chiapas south to Central America; its commonest calls are “wh’beer” and “dee-dee-dee-dee.”