Ashy Flycatcher

Overview

The ashy flycatcher (Fraseria caerulescens) is a species of bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, found throughout sub-Saharan Africa excluding the drier regions of South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia. It inhabits subtropical and tropical dry or moist forests, as well as savanna, and is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List due to its large range and stable population.

Identification

• Size of 13–15 cm with a small, thin, and pointed beak that is generally blackish with a pinkish-grey base to the lower half.
• Mostly grey plumage featuring bluish-grey crowns and upperparts, with pale grey chins and throats, white bellies, and grey thighs.
• Distinctive markings include black loral lines with white stripes above, pale, well-defined eye-rings, and white axillaries and underwing coverts.
• Dawn song consists of 5–7 notes that start high and move down then up, while the day song comprises 3–8 short staccato notes; a piercing, slightly descending hiss serves as an alarm call.

Habitat

The species is found through most of sub-Saharan Africa, absent from the arid regions of Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa. It inhabits a variety of forest and woodland types, including forest edges, open gallery forest, secondary growth, riverine strips, and miombo woodland, generally up to 1,500 m altitude, though reaching 1,800 m in eastern Africa.

Diet

Primarily insectivorous, eating beetles, flies, grasshoppers, moths, butterflies, winged ants, and termites, with prey sizes mostly between 15–20 mm. Foraging occurs in the upper vegetation levels by making short circular flights to catch insects in flight, hovering to catch prey in foliage, or gleaning from bark and leaves. The diet also includes small fruit, berries, and rarely geckos up to 5 cm in length.

Did you know?

The ashy flycatcher has been observed sunbathing on the ground, despite being a restless and active bird that typically forages in the upper canopy levels.