Taiga Flycatcher    Ficedula albicilla

Etymology: 

• Ficedula : Latin word ficedula –small fig-eating bird

• Albicilla: Latin word albus –white; cilla- tail  { White tailed} 

Distribution in India: winter visitor Central, Eastern and North East India.

Description: Size of 11·5 cm; weight of 8–14 g. The male in breeding has head and upperparts browner and uppertail-coverts black .The lores, malar region and ear-coverts are greyer; red patch below restricted to chin and centre of throat and uppermost breast, and completely and broadly bordered by grey, underparts off-white with hint of peach-coloured suffusion; iris is brown; maxilla is blackish horn, mandible with yellowish tinge, variably dark towards tip; legs are dark brown. The non-breeding male has red on chin and throat greatly reduced, and flanks more buffish.

The female lacks red throat, has white throat patch and greyish-buff underparts. The juvenile and first-year have black uppertail-coverts contrasting with browner rump, dark mandible, greyish collar on breast, more patterned face with contrasting pale grey lores.

Habitat: It is found in breeding season in mixed deciduous forest and in spruce forest, preferring those with much undergrowth and with tall trees; sites with clear areas and glades, and favours areas near water. In wintering areas occurs in forest, woodland, plantations, and visits gardens.

Food habits:  It eats insects and other invertebrates, beetles and spiders, dragonflies and damselflies, stoneflies, grasshoppers, earwigs bugs, earthworms, woodlice and snails. It is usually solitary, skulks in canopy or bushes. It hunts from middle to lower strata, hopping and creeping among foliage, sometimes hovering; catches airborne prey by making short, looping sallies with rapid wingbeats; frequently forages on ground and in grass. It often flicks wings, and cocks and flirts tail.

Breeding habits: They breed from June to Aug. They are single-brooded and monogamous and solitary nester. The nest is built by female. The nest is a cup of moss, grass stalks, leaves, root fibres and hair, lined with hair, with lichen or moss sometimes woven into outer wall, placed above ground in hole in tree or wall, sometimes on branch close to trunk. They lay a clutch of 5–6 eggs. The incubation is done by female for a period of 12–15 days. The chicks are brooded by female, fed by both parents. The nestling period is 11–15 days.