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Broad-billed Flycatcher (Myiagra ruficollis) Size: 14-16 cm Body mass: 10-14 g

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Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Broad-billed Flycatchers are small flycatchers. Like all Australian flycatchers, they have "whiskers" on both sides of the bill. They have a bluish dark-grey head with inconspicuous, light-grey eye-rings and a small crest. The throat and chest are orange-rufous, the belly, vent and undertail coverts are off-white. The rest of the back (mantle, wings, rump, tail) are all bluish dark-grey. The eyes have dark-brown irises. The broad bill is bluish-black, the legs and feet are dark-grey. Differences between the two sexes are small. Female Broad-billed Flycatchers have the same morphology as males, but somewhat duller colours. Immature Broad-billed Flycatchers look like females, but with less pale lores and with rufous-brown juvenile flight feathers. Juveniles have highly cryptic plumage. They have a light greyish-brown front (throat, chest, upper belly); the rest of the front is off-white. Apart from long, off-white eyebrows, the rest of the head is greyish-brown. The rest of the back is dark-brown, with some light grey streaking. The flight feathers have rufous-brown leading edges. Twitcher's tip Leaden Flycatchers and Broad-billed Flycatchers can be distinguished by the shape of their bill, as shown in the combined photo below. Shape of the bill of a female Broad-billed Flycatcher, left, and a male Leaden Flycatcher, right; note the broad, double-convex shape of the former, while the latter is almost triangular, with little outward curvature Compared with female Leaden Flycatchers and female Satin Flycatchers, Broad-billed Flycatchers have a brighter orange-rufous front.

Taxonomy, classification See Broad-billed Flycatcher at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Broad-billed Flycatcher is available HERE . There are two races of Broad-billed Flycatchers that are found in northern Australia, eastern Indonesia, Timor Leste and New Guinea. In Australia, only race "mimikae" is found. They populate a narrow strip along the North and North-East coast of Australia, from Broome, WA, in the West, all along the North coast, to the tropic of Capricorn on the QLD East coast. From Cape Melville to about Mackay, QLD, their distribution is uncertain. Broad-billed Flycatchers have a preference for wet, tropical forest and mangrove.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "mimikae" Several contributors have reported to us finding Broad-billed Flycatchers, race "mimikae", occasionally in the Top End of the NT, mostly in the region from Darwin, NT, to Fogg Dam CR. We first spotted Broad-billed Flycatchers, race "mimikae", in mangroves in an intertidal wetland at East Point, Darwin, NT, in August 2014. J. Greaves reports finding Broad-billed Flycatchers, race "mimikae", at Wurrumiyanga, Bathurst Island, NT, in September 2016. M. Eaton found Broad-billed Flycatchers, race "mimikae", in Broome, WA, in July 2026.

Photos

Race "mimikae"

ADULT

MALE

Near-lateral view of a male Broad-billed Flycatcher - note the absence of light grey on frons and lores
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Streeters Jetty, Broome, WA, July 2026]

Near-lateral view of a male Broad-billed Flycatcher (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Streeters Jetty, Broome, WA, July 2026]

Lateral view of a male Broad-billed Flycatcher looking at the observer (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Streeters Jetty, Broome, WA, July 2026]

Lateral view of a male Broad-billed Flycatcher (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Crab Creek Mangroves, Broome, WA, July 2026]

Lateral view of a male Broad-billed Flycatcher (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Streeters Jetty, Broome, WA, July 2026]

Lateral view of a male Broad-billed Flycatcher issuing its call
[Darwin, NT, August 2014]

Lateral view of a male Broad-billed Flycatcher (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Streeters Jetty, Broome, WA, July 2026]

Lateral view of a male Broad-billed Flycatcher with its crest erected (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Kulaluk, Darwin, NT, April 2013]

Near-dorsal view of a male Broad-billed Flycatcher (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Streeters Jetty, Broome, WA, July 2026]

FEMALE

Frontal view of a female Broad-billed Flycatcher; note the graduated tail feathers, which are diagnostic and help to separate this species from the female Leaden Flycatcher (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Kulaluk, Darwin, NT, April 2013]

Frontal view of a female Broad-billed Flycatcher; note the characteristic light-grey frontal band above the bill, from eye to eye, which is typical of females in the Top End of the NT and the Kimberley (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Rapid Creek, Darwin, NT, Ocotober 2018]

Frontal/ventral view of a female Broad-billed Flycatcher (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[East Point, Darwin, NT, July 2020]

Frontal/ventral view of a female Broad-billed Flycatcher (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Rapid Creek, Darwin, NT, Ocotober 2018]

Frontal/ventral view of a female Broad-billed Flycatcher showing clearly the breadth of the bill and the long "whiskers"
[East Point, Darwin, NT, August 2014]

Near-lateral view of a female Broad-billed Flycatcher looking away from the observer; this is one of the birds whose calls were recorded on 15 October 2019 (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Coconut Grove, Darwin, NT, Ocotober 2019]

Close-up lateral view of a female Broad-billed Flycatcher issuing its call (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Ludmilla Creek, Darwin, NT, February 2022]

Lateral view of a female Broad-billed Flycatcher (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[East Point, Darwin, NT, December 2017]

Near-dorsal view of a female Broad-billed Flycatcher (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Rapid Creek, Darwin, NT, Ocotober 2018]

What? You looking at me?! (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Rapid Creek, Darwin, NT, Ocotober 2018]

Dorsal view of a female Broad-billed Flycatcher looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Streeters Jetty, Broome, WA, July 2026]

Dorsal view of a female Broad-billed Flycatcher (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Streeters Jetty, Broome, WA, July 2026]

Dorsal view of a female Broad-billed Flycatcher looking upwards, showing clearly the breadth of the bill
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Streeters Jetty, Broome, WA, July 2026]

Ventral view of a female Broad-billed Flycatcher showing clearly the breadth of the bill (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fannie Bay, Darwin, NT, July 2019]

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Broad-billed Flycatcher (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fogg Dam CR, NT, May 2018]

Close-up lateral view of a Broad-billed Flycatcher (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fogg Dam CR, NT, May 2018]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Near-lateral view of an immature Broad-billed Flycatcher; note the remaining (brownish) juvenile flight feathers
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fannie Bay, Darwin, NT, July 2019]

Dorsal view of an immature Broad-billed Flycatcher; note the remaining (brownish) juvenile flight feathers
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fannie Bay, Darwin, NT, July 2019]

Dorsal view of an immature Broad-billed Flycatcher; note the remaining (brownish) juvenile flight feathers
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fannie Bay, Darwin, NT, July 2019]

Dorsal view of an immature Broad-billed Flycatcher; note the remaining (brownish) juvenile flight feathers
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fannie Bay, Darwin, NT, July 2019]

Lateral view of a juvenile Broad-billed Flycatcher; note the inconspicuous lores and the rufous-brown flight feathers
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Fogg Dam CR, NT, July 2018]

Lateral view of a juvenile Broad-billed Flycatcher; here one can see the typical shape of the bill
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Fogg Dam CR, NT, July 2018]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Sedentary

Elementary unit: Solitary

Food, Diet

Lateral view of a female Broad-billed Flycatcher with its catch, a flying insect; this one of the birds whose calls were recorded on 30 May 2019 (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Leanyer Swamp, Darwin, NT, May 2019]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

brbflyc_pb_20191111_a.m4a	mimikae (Darwin, NT)	Territorial calls(?), male	© PB
brbflyc_me_20260703.m4a	mimikae (N WA)	Territorial calls(?), male	© ME
brbflyc_pb_20191111_b.m4a	mimikae (Darwin, NT)	Territorial calls(?), male; female responding (+ Collared Kingfisher)	© PB
brbflyc_pb_20191111.m4a	mimikae (Darwin, NT)	Contact calls(?), female	© PB
brbflyc_pb_20191111_1.m4a	mimikae (Darwin, NT)	Contact calls(?), female	© PB
brbflyc_pb_20191015.m4a	mimikae (Darwin, NT)	Various (pair Q&A?)	© PB
brbflyc_pb_20220212.m4a	mimikae (Darwin, NT)	Various (female)	© PB
brbflyc_pb_20190530_2.m4a	mimikae (Darwin, NT)	Various (family)	© PB
brbflyc_pb_20200323.m4a	mimikae (Darwin, NT)	Various	© PB
brbflyc_pb_20200323_2.m4a	mimikae (Darwin, NT)	Various	© PB
brbflyc_pb_20210206.m4a	mimikae (Darwin, NT)	Various (+ Grey Whistler)	© PB

More Broad-billed Flycatcher sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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