Northern black flycatcher
| Northern black flycatcher | |
|---|---|
| |
| M. e. elioides Banjul, Gambia | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Muscicapidae |
| Genus: | Melaenornis |
| Species: | M. edolioides
|
| Binomial name | |
| Melaenornis edolioides (Swainson, 1837)
| |
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Kakamega Forest, Kenya
The northern black flycatcher (Melaenornis edolioides) is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family, Muscicapidae.
Range[edit]
This is an insectivorous species which is a resident breeder in tropical Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia and south to Zaire and Tanzania.
Habitat[edit]
The northern black flycatcher is found in moist wooded areas and cultivation. It nests in a hole or reuses the old nest of another species, and lays two or three eggs. Breeding takes place in the wet season.
Description[edit]
The northern black flycatcher is 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long. It is a large upright long-tailed flycatcher. The adult is uniformly black. Juveniles are blackish-brown with buff scaling.
The long square-ended tail helps to distinguish this species from two other all-black insectivores, the fork-tailed drongo and the shorter-tailed and red-eyed common square-tailed drongo.
Song[edit]
This flycatcher has a simple musical song and a thin tsee-whee call.
References[edit]
- ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Melaenornis edolioides". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22709079A94191295. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22709079A94191295.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- Birds of The Gambia by Barlow, Wacher and Disley, ISBN 1-873403-32-1