Malaysian Blue Flycatcher
Cyornis turcosus
Small flycatcher with brilliant blue upperparts, a pale orange throat and chest, and a white belly. Slightly paler female has a whitish throat, while male’s is blue; sexes are otherwise quite similar. Head is fairly uniformly blue, without boldly lighter or darker patches, unlike in many other “blue flycatchers”. Pale and restricted orange also serves as a helpful identifying feature. A lowland species, restricted to secluded riverine forests in Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, but found in a variety of dry and wet forests on Borneo. Song is a short smooth series of drawn-out piping whistles.
Identification
The Malaysian blue flycatcher (Cyornis turcosus) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It has a brilliant blue upperparts, a pale orange throat and chest, and a white belly. A slightly paler female has a whitish throat, while a male's is blue; the sexes are otherwise quite similar. The head is fairly uniformly blue, without boldly lighter or darker patches, unlike in many other "blue flycatchers". Pale and restricted orange also serve as a helpful identifying feature. A lowland species, restricted to secluded riverine forests in Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula but found in a variety of dry and wet forests on Borneo. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, found in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei. It is threatened by habitat loss. The bird is well known as 'Burung Sambar Biru' in Malaysia.
Taxonomy
Genus: Cyornis; Family: Muscicapidae; Order: Passeriformes.
- Scientific name
- Cyornis turcosus
- Authority
- Brüggemann, 1877
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Muscicapidae
- Genus
- Cyornis
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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