
Friday 25 January
Kingdom | Animalia |
Phylum | Chordata |
Class | Aves |
Order | Passeriformes |
Family | Muscicapidae |
Genus | Ficedula (1) |
This secretive bird belongs to the flycatcher family, a group named for their propensity to make short sallies from a perch to catch flying insects in their bill (3). The little slaty flycatcher has a short tail and a heavy bill surrounded with bristles (2) (3). The male has a slaty-grey head and upperparts, brownish flight feathers, white underparts and a grey wash on the breast and flanks. Females have a rufous-brown head and upperparts, and white underparts washed with rufous on the breast and flanks. The sexes also differ by the fairly prominent whitish spot on the side of the neck of the male (2). Both have dark brown irises, a black bill and pale pink to pinkish-grey legs (2). The little slaty flycatcher skulks in dense vegetation, so it is more easily located by its high pitched three-note call, or its beautiful, warbling song (4).
The solitary and secretive little slaty flycatcher spends much of its time hidden amongst dense foliage, and its presence is only detected by its characteristic call (2). It searches in low vegetation in the forest for small invertebrates to eat, and only emerges onto an exposed perch when excited or agitated (2).
Information is scarce regarding breeding in this species, but little slaty flycatchers were found in a breeding condition in May and June (2). Only one nest has ever been found; a frail structure, made of roots and lined with leaves, well concealed in forest litter near the ground. Within this nest were two eggs (2) (5).
The little slaty flycatcher is endemic to the Philippines. There are two subspecies; F.b. basilanica occurs on the islands of Dinagat, Mindanao and Basilan, whilst F. b. samarensis is found only on Samar and Leyte (2)
Inhabits the tangled understorey of primary forest and secondary forest, including selectively logged forest, up to elevations of 1,200 meters (2)
Classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List 2007 (1).
The presence of this vulnerable bird in Mount Apo and Mount Malindang National Parks may afford the little slaty flycatcher some protection (2), but it would greatly benefit from the protection of five further important sites (5). Clarifying its current distribution and population status in the remaining fragments of lowland forest is another proposed measure (5).
For further information on the little slaty flycatcher see:
Link to this photo
Embed this Arkive thumbnail link ("portlet") by copying and pasting the code below.
Terms of Use - The displayed portlet may be used as a link from your website to Arkive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.
Read more about
MyARKive
MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite Arkive images and videos and share them with friends.