Blue-throated Blue Flycatcher

Blue -throated Blue Flycatcher  Cyornis rubeculoides

Etymology:

• Cyornis :Greek Word kuanos – dark-blue;  ornis –bird
• Rubeculoides : Latin word rubecula – redbreast , robin ; Greek word oides- resembling

Vernacular Names : Ben: Ghatki, Lepcha: Manzil pho, Mal: Neelachempan, Mar: Nilkanthi Mashimar

Distribution in India: Summer Visitor to Himalayas and Resident in North East India.

Description: Size of 13-14 cm. The Male nominate race has dark blue upperparts, including tail and edges of flight-feathers ; forehead to over eye a band of paler shining blue or cerulean-blue; lesser upperwing-coverts bright azure-blue, inner edges of remiges and tail feathers sooty black; lores to just behind eye black, chin and throat darker or blackish-blue (appearing black in the field), breast side dark blue as mantle ; bright orange-rufous on center of lower throat, breast and upper flanks, white on belly to undertail-coverts; iris dark brown; bill black, sometimes grey base of lower mandible; legs pink, purplish-pink or dusky bluish. Female has head and upperparts pale olive-brown except for brownish-chestnut rump, darker olive-brown wings and tail narrowly bordered brighter rufous-brown (some individuals may have bluish frontal band, uppertail-coverts and tail), broad pale creamy-buff lores, creamy-orange throat and deeper orange breast, white rest of underparts. It flicks wings and tail when calling.

Habitat:It is found in dense undergrowth and ravines in dry broadleaf evergreen and mixed deciduous forests, also swamp-forest and secondary forest, bamboo, parks and well-wooded gardens.

Food Habits: It eats small invertebrates, flies, small cicadas and larvae. Usually alone or in pairs; solitary in non-breeding season, may defend feeding territory. Actively forages low down, in bushes, scrub and undergrowth of forest trees, often near streams. Frequently pursues insects in flight, but rarely uses regular perch occasionally forages on ground.

Breeding Habits: They breed in  Mar-Aug in India. The nest is a neat cup of moss, fern fronds, grass, plant fibers and animal hair, placed in hole in tree or, especially, bamboo, or in stump or rock crevice, or on ground among ferns on bank. It lays a clutch of 3–5 eggs. The incubation is done by female for a period of 11–12 day. The nestlings are fed by both parents.