Red-breasted Flycatcher

The red-breasted flycatcher is a relatively small flycatcher, 11–12 cm long, only slightly larger than a Eurasian wren. The breeding male is mainly muted brown above and white below, with a grey head and an orange throat, and females and immatures are similarly coloured but lack the orange throat patch. It breeds in eastern Europe and across Central Asia and is migratory, wintering in south Asia, mainly India and Pakistan. It forms a superspecies with the closely related taiga flycatcher and the Kashmir flycatcher, and is distinguished from the former by its different song, warmer-toned plumage and the more extensive orange throat patch (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is a regular passage migrant in western Europe. The song is usually three to four seconds long, far-carrying and repetitive yet sweet whistles like the European pied flycatcher's but less melodious. Birds are usually wary of predators, sometimes briefly abandoning their clutches when disturbed, and males make alarm calls even at distant threats once the eggs have hatched. SoIB 2023 rates it a Low conservation priority, a winter migrant of forest and plantation with a Very Large range of about 1.3 million km² and a stable long-term trend (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).