Red-breasted flycatcher
The red-breasted flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family. It breeds in eastern Europe and across Central Asia and is strictly migratory, wintering in south Asia. The breeding male is mainly muted brown above and white below, with a grey head and an orange throat. Females and immatures are similarly colored but lack the orange throat patch. The red-breasted flycatcher is a regular passage migrant in western Europe, whereas the collared flycatcher, which has a different migration route, is scarce. It forms a superspecies with the closely related taiga flycatcher and Kashmir flycatcher and can be distinguished from the former by its different song, warmer-toned plumage and the more extensive orange throat patch.
Taxonomy
The red-breasted flycatcher is one of about 30 species placed in the flycatcher genus Ficedula, along with other European species such as the collared flycatcher and the more widely distributed European pied flycatcher. The genus was introduced by the French naturalist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760, with Ficedula being the Latin name for a small fig-eating bird supposed to change into the blackcap in winter. The specific parva is the feminine form of the Latin adjective parvus, meaning "small".Two closely related species, the taiga flycatcher and the Kashmir flycatcher, were formerly treated as subspecies of F. parva.
Description
At 11–12 cm long, this is a relatively small flycatcher, only slightly larger than the Eurasian wren. Adult breeding males are mainly muted brown above and white below, with a grey head and orange throat. The bill is black and has a pale pinkish base along with the broad but pointed shape typical of aerial insectivores. The wheatear-like tail is distinctive in all plumages; the tail is entirely black except for the white base on the outer tail feathers. All plumages have a noticeable white eyering, and the overall smaller size can be distinctive in some parts of its range. It can be distinguished from the closely related and very similar taiga flycatcher by its overall warmer coloration and the more extensive orange patch on the throat. The bill is also brighter and the pale pinkish base is more extensive on the red-breasted flycatcher.Vocalisations
The song is usually three to four seconds long and consists of far-carrying and repetitive yet sweet-sounding whistles, like that of the European pied flycatcher, but less melodious. Each song phrase is usually preceded by quiet zit or tsi-it notes, followed by a descending multipart sequence that may recall the song of the willow warbler. The song varies significantly within its range and between individuals. While singing, males often display their throat patch and tail while partly opening their wings. In winter, red-breasted flycatchers are mostly silent, but they have a typical chip-chip-chr-rrr flycatcher call. They also produce a short, rattling call sounding like zrrrt, which is slower than that of the taiga flycatcher.Males often sing while perched on bare or dead branches at medium height, and will often begin singing just before landing. They only sing for a few weeks and stop singing completely once they find a mate.
Behavior
Characteristic behaviors of red-breasted flycatchers include flicking and fanning their tail. They are a diurnal species which stay active into dusk and early night during the breeding season, at the height of which they will start singing about an hour before sunrise, with some even singing into the night. They are highly territorial during the breeding season, but are otherwise solitary or in small groups, sometimes mixed with other species. Rival males will defend their territories with loud singing and display postures, occasionally making short, non-violent rushes at each other. They are usually wary of predators, sometimes briefly abandoning their clutches once disturbed. The males will make alarm calls even at distant threats once the eggs have hatched. Eurasian jays will raid the nests of red-breasted flycatchers, and both parents may mob potential intruders.Breeding
Red-breasted flycatchers nest from the middle of May to late June in Central and Eastern Europe. In the former Soviet Union, they start nesting in late May, nearly a month earlier than the taiga flycatcher. Between four and seven eggs are laid, though a typical clutch will include five or six. Nests are built using moss, leaves, dry grass stalks, root fibres and hair, sometimes with lichen woven into the exterior. The nests are usually placed in holes in trees or walls, on branches near the trunk, among the side shoots of a tree or even in tree forks. During a study in Hungary, nest boxes were seldom accepted, and breeding success was limited unless predation pressure was reduced through means such as chicken wire.A study on their nesting habits in Białowieża National Park in Poland found that the native red-breasted flycatchers often built their nests in hornbeam or lime. Most nest sites fell into one of three categories or types, namely chimney-shaped, half cavities or shelves. Half cavities were the most common type of nest site overall, with most of them being located in hornbeams, whereas most chimney-shaped nest sites were found in limes. Nests were often built at a relatively low height above the ground, with hole entrances exposed to the south.