The Pied Flycatcher, Ficedula hypoleuca, is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family. It breeds in most of Europe and western Asia. It is migratory, wintering mainly in western Spain have a larger forehead patch and a pale rump. Non-breeding males, females and juveniles have the black replaced by a pale brown, and may be very difficult to distinguish from other Ficedula flycatchers.
The bill is black, and has the broad but pointed shape typical of aerial insectivores. As well as taking insects in flight, this species hunts caterpillars amongst the oak foliage, and will take berries. It is therefore a much earlier spring migrant than the more aerial Spotted Flycatcher, and its loud rhythmic and melodious song is characteristic of oak woods in spring.
They are birds of deciduous woodlands, parks and gardens, with a preference for oak trees. They build an open nest in a tree hole, and will readily adapt to an open-fronted nest box. 4-10 eggs are laid.
The very similar Atlas Flycatcher, Ficedula speculigera, of the mountains of north west Africa was formerly classed as subspecies of Pied.
The Pied Flycatcher, Ficedula hypoleuca, is a small passerinebird in the Old World flycatcher family.
It is therefore a much earlier spring migrant than the more aerial Spotted Flycatcher, and its loud rhythmic and melodious song is characteristic of oak woods in spring.
The very similar AtlasFlycatcher, Ficedula speculigera, of the mountains of north west Africa was formerly classed as subspecies of Pied.
The belly of the juvenile Ash-throated Flycatcher is a little paler yellow than the adult's, and the flimsier texture of the juvenile's feathers may be evident in a close view.
In the Anza-Borrego Desert the Ash-throated Flycatcher shadows the Ladder-backed Woodpecker, using the woodpecker's holes in the stalks of Agave deserti and the trunks of Yucca schidigera.
Thus west of the Colorado the Brown-crested Flycatcher may depend largely on man-made cavities—the pair at Covington Park in Morongo Valley nested in the horizontal metal pipe of the swing set.
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