Spotted Flycatcher ( Muscicapa striata, family: Muscicapidae)

spotted flycatcher kruger national park birds The Spotted Flycatcher (Latin name Muscicapa striata) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 689 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 919 also a picture of the Spotted Flycatcher on page 753. The Spotted Flycatcher belongs to the family of birds classified as Muscicapidae.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Spotted Flycatcher is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common summer visitor

In terms of distribution of the Spotted Flycatcher in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Spotted Flycatcher : see above distribution map.

The Spotted Flycatcher.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Spotted Flycatcher is a small bird about the size of a house sparrow. Do not take this relative indicator as anything other than a rough easy to remember indicator. It is not a accurate visualization. The height of the Spotted Flycatcher is about 14 cms and its weight is about 15 gms

The male and female Spotted Flycatcher have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is brown.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is grey.
  • Back is brown.
  • Legs are grey.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Spotted Flycatcher feeds on the ground mainly

Invertebrates

Fruits

Seeds

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Spotted Flycatcher takes on more than a single mate (it is bigamous).

The nesting habit of Spotted Flycatcher is extra limital

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Spotted Flycatcher are: woodlands and grasslands and riverine areas

You will not see Spotted Flycatcher in flocks. The bird prefers to act singly or in pairs.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Europese Vlievanger

German ... Grauschnpper

Portuguese ... Papa-moscas-cinzento

French ... Gobemouche gris

Dutch ... Grauwe Vliegenvanger

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 689

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za