Spotted Flycatcher

Spotted Flycatchers have grey-brown upper parts and a paler, off-white breast. Their breasts and foreheads are streaked - or <em>striated</em>.

Species introduction

At a glance
Latin name: 
Muscicapa striata
Family: 
Old World Flycatchers
Family Latin name: 
MUSCICAPIDAE
Category: 
Birds

Species description

Species description

Spotted Flycatchers have grey-brown upper parts and a paler, off-white breast. Their breasts and foreheads are streaked - or <em>striated</em>, hence the second word in their Latin name. They prefer woodland edges and are conspicuous perchers, patiently watching for passing insects. Their insect-catching behaviour is unforgettable in that they fly up and out to snap up their prey, before landing back on the same perch. They have adopted this repetitive feeding behaviour, which is worth you watching out for. Their diet includes flies, bees, wasps and ants.

This bird averages 14 centimetres in length and has a wingspan of 24 centimetres. They arrive in Britain in April and May, and depart in August to mid-October. It winters in tropical Africa, but breeds here and in Europe.

Following recent years of documented population decline, the Spotted Flycatcher has conservation status of RED.

Species photographs

Larger photograph(s) (click to magnify)

Details

Species family information

Old world flycatchers are a large family of passerine (perching) birds. They are mostly insectivorous and eat on the wing, as the name suggests. Most flycatchers in Europe and Asia are migratory, leaving their northern breeding grounds for the winter months to find insects in the warmer south. Patterns of migration are evolving, with birds not moving so far south, and a few individuals even overwintering on their breeding grounds.

Category information

The earliest feathered dinosaur fossils date from the early Cretaceous, but the ancestry of birds goes further back to Jurassic theropod dinosaurs, which shared a common ancestor with the crocodilians. Well known theropod groups include the tyrannosaurs, allosaurs, and other carnivores. Of surviving bird groups, the most ancient are the ratites (ostriches, rheas, tinamous, moas, kiwis, cassowaries, and emus), followed in evolutionary order by the waterfowl (ducks, geese and swans) and then the land fowl (chickens, turkeys, pheasants and their kin). Heene cemetery’s most ancient bird visitors are the woodpigeons. Strictly, therefore, we ought to refer to birds as dinosaurs, for they are direct descendants. The RSPB would be more accurately restyled as the RSPD. Where known, the conservation status of each bird is given as red, amber, or green, according to its survival potential based on 2016 populations and recent population trends.

Birds are warm-blooded, and have feathers, toothless, beaked jaws, and a strong, lightweight skeleton. They lay hard-shelled eggs. Their hearts have four chambers, and their metabolic rate is high. Although most are adapted for flight, many can also run, jump, swim and dive. Flightless birds retain vestigial wings. Brown, green, and grey are the commonest bird colours, for camouflage.

Protections