Snowy-browed Flycatcher

Ficedula hyperythra innexa

Endemic Subspecies

The Snowy-browed Flycatcher is a small (12 cm), short-tailed  flycatcher with a relatively round head and a small bill.  Males of the Taiwan race innexa are ashy-blue above, deep orange on the throat and breast, and whitish on the lower belly.  There is a conspicuous white stripe above the front of the eye.  The bill is black and the legs are grayish pink.  Females are brownish above with a yellowish-brown face and a buffy eye stripe.

The food of the Snowy-browed Flycatcher consists mainly of small insects, spiders, small earthworms and some berries.  It searches for food at the lower levels of forest edges and clearings, and may run mouse-like over the ground in undergrowth and along fallen branches.  It often flicks its tail and holds its wings slightly drooped but may also sit motionless on a perch for long periods.  Outside the breeding season, this species is usually solitary.  Its quiet song consists of three or four wheezy high-pitched notes, “tsit-sit-si-sii”

In Taiwan, the Snowy-browed Flycatcher is a common resident year-round, breeding above 2000 m. in moist broadleaf forest, bamboo clumps and ravines.  It descends to lower elevations in winter.  The nest is a cup or oval with a side entrance made from moss, fine plant fibres and feathers, and is built by both sexes.  It is usually placed in a hole in a tree trunk or stump, or on the ground in a hollow between tree roots or boulders.  Both sexes incubate the 2 to 4 eggs and feed the young.

References:  Handbook of Birds of the World Vol. 11; A Field Guide to the Birds of China (Mackinnon and Phillipps)