Shining Flycatcher
Myiagra alecto· 王鹟科(5 photos)
Locations:
Shining Flycatcher
17-19 cm. Male: entirely glossy jet-black. Female: crown/nape glossy black, rest of upperparts rich chestnut; underparts white. Immature: like dull female. Singles, pairs, small autumn-winter flocks: vivacious, raises crown feathers in low crest, flicks tail upward. Moves very fast, darts at prey on leaves or mud. Male shyer than female; quickly vanishes.
- Voice
- amazing repertoire, from pretty whistlings to croakings: deep, froglike 'zhip, zhip, zhipipipip'; soft, rippling, Whimbrel-like trill and shrill, rising trill.
- Habitat
- dense mangroves, pockets of rainforest, paperbarks, pandanus, adjacent eucalypt woodlands, usually near/over water.
- Breeding
- Aug.-March.
- Nest
- deep, closely woven cup of strips or rough pieces of bark, spiders' web; deep in fork, over water, sheltered by leaves; 1-6 m high.
- Eggs
- 2-3; glossy, blue-white/green-white, with minute spots, blotched brown, underlying lilac-grey in zone around large end.
- Range & Status
- coastal n. and ne. Aust. and islands: from Broome (WA) (possibly with gap on Gulf coast) to C. York Pen. (Q), s. to Fraser I.-Noosa R.; casual s. to Tweed R. and nearby tidal areas (NSW). Extends inland on watercourses, e.g. S. Alligator R. near Kakadu NP (NT). Common in n. Aust., scarce to rare s. of Herbert R. (Q). Also Bismarck Arch., PNG and islands, Aru Is., e. Indonesia.
- Distribution key to races
- 1. Myiagra alecto melvillensis 2. Myiagra alecto wardelli
