Asian Brown Flycatcher

Fascinating facts about the Asian Brown Flycatcher

• At just 13 cm long (about 5.1 in), this tiny passerine has a broad dark bill.
• Breeding pairs nest in a hole in a tree and the female incubates a clutch of four eggs.
• The bird migrates from its breeding range in Japan, eastern Siberia and the Himalayas to winter in tropical southern Asia, from southern India to Indonesia.
• A single winter visitor was spotted on 3 October 2007 at Flamborough Head, Yorkshire, drawing hundreds of watchers and becoming the first widely accepted Western-European record – proof that even the most unlikely places can host a surprise arrival.
• The male’s courtship song is a simple, melodic tune that carries through open woodland, a subtle signal that lets females locate mates across the cultivated landscapes where these flycatchers hunt.

At a glance

About the Asian Brown Flycatcher

The Asian brown flycatcher (Muscicapa dauurica) is a diminutive passerine, measuring about 13 cm from tip to tail, its sleek silhouette highlighted by a relatively long, cocked tail and a dark, broad-based bill designed for snatching insects mid-air. Adults wear muted grey-brown upperparts that mellow to a softer hue with age, while their underparts are a clean whitish, tinged with brown on the flanks; juveniles, by contrast, display a scaly brown mantle and a mottled breast that hints at their eventual transformation. This insectivorous bird inhabits open woodlands and cultivated landscapes across its breeding grounds in Japan, eastern Siberia and the Himalayas, before embarking on a long migration to winter in the tropical reaches of southern India, Sri Lanka, and onward to Indonesia. In the breeding season the male delivers a simple, melodic song to court his mate, and the pair nest in tree cavities where the female incubates a clutch of four eggs. A lesser-known quirk of its biology is its parasitism by the chewing louse Philopterus davuricae, a tiny ectoparasite that lives on its feathers, a reminder of the intricate web of relationships even the most unassuming bird sustains.

More birds to discover

Browse Feravox