mdahlem.net WWW

Aust birds    Bird names   News   1-26    Habitats    Key plants    Glossary    Plumage    Nests    Tips    Thumbnails    Gen. info    Sponsors    Photos for sale
NON-PASSERINES     1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10     11     12     13     14	15     16     17     18     19     20     21     22     23     24     25     26     PASSERINES
Common names sorted alphabetically: A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   W   Y

21

Satin Flycatcher (Myiagra cyanoleuca) Alternate name(s): "Shining Flycatcher*"; misnomer: "Satin Sparrow" Size: 15-17 cm Weight: 12-20 g

Australia: Family Group 21 Family Group 21 Table White-eared Monarch Pied Monarch Frill-necked Monarch Black-faced Monarch Black-winged Monarch Spectacled Monarch Yellow-breasted Boatbill Broad-billed Flycatcher Leaden Flycatcher Satin Flycatcher Shining Flycatcher Restless Flycatcher Paperbark Flycatcher Rufous Fantail Arafura Fantail Mangrove Grey Fantail Grey Fantail Northern Fantail Willie Wagtail Spangled Drongo Magpie-lark Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

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

Physical description Click here for a physical description Satin Flycatchers are small flycatchers. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. Like all Australian flycatchers, they have "whiskers" on both sides of the bill. Male Satin Flycatchers have a glossy bluish-black head, upper front (down to the upper chest) and back, including the wings. The rest of the front (lower chest down to the undertail coverts) is off-white. The undertail is light-grey. Female Satin Flycatchers have a dark-grey head and back. The flight feathers have brown leading edges. The front, from the throat to the upper chest, is orange-rufous. The rest of the front is off-white, like the males'. Females have thin, inconspicuous light-grey eye-rings. Both sexes have eyes with dark-brown irises. They both have a small erectile crest. The legs and feet are grey. Juveniles have highly cryptic plumage. They have a greyish-brown, slightly barred front (throat, chest); the rest of the front is off-white. Apart from off-white eyebrows, the rest of the head is dark 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 Compared with Leaden Flycatchers and Broad-billed Flycatchers, both male and female Satin Flycatchers have the darkest colours and the glossiest plumage.

Taxonomy, classification See Satin 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 Satin Flycatcher is available HERE . Satin Flycatchers are found only in Australia and near-coastal New Guinea. Satin Flycatchers are breeding migrants to Australia from the North. In Australia only one race, "cyanoleuca", is found. During their breeding season they populate the South-East coast and mostly the sea-side slopes of the Great Dividing Range from the south-eastern tip of SA, through VIC, the Bass Strait and Tasmania, all the way through eastern NSW, up to about Brisbane, QLD, and further into the ranges of southern QLD to about Expedition National Park. Occasionally they extend their range further into the Great Dividing Range. On their migration they can be found all the way up the QLD coast and ranges, to the tip of Cape York and beyond. Satin Flycatchers are often found in dense, wet forest.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "cyanoleuca" Satin Flycatchers, race "cyanoleuca", are not normally found where we live, near Narrabri, NSW. A pair was first spotted by us in November 2006 at Lower Ebor Falls, in Guy Fawkes NP, northern NSW. B. Hensen reports spotting Satin Flycatchers, race "cyanoleuca", at Namadgee NP, ACT, in November 2013. R. Plumtree reports spotting a female Satin Flycatcher, race "cyanoleuca", at Old Coach Road, Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, in December 2014. They were found breeding in the area in November 2015. A. Campbell reports spotting a Satin Flycatcher, race "cyanoleuca", at Mount McEuen, QLD, in February 2017.

Photos

Race "cyanoleuca"

ADULT

MALE

Frontal view of a male Satin Flycatcher
[Guy Fawkes NP, NSW, November 2006]

Frontal view of a male Satin Flycatcher (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, November 2015]

Near-lateral view of a male Satin Flycatcher (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Namadgee NP, ACT, November 2013]

FEMALE

Frontal view of a female Satin Flycatcher (photo courtesy of A. Campbell)
[Mount McEuen, QLD, February 2017]

Near-lateral view of a female Satin Flycatcher (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Namadgee NP, ACT, November 2013]

Distant lateral view of a female Satin Flycatcher
[Guy Fawkes NP, NSW, November 2006]

Dorsal view of a female Satin Flycatcher (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Old Coach Road, Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, December 2014]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of a juvenile Satin Flycatcher (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Old Coach Road, Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, February 2018]

Lateral view of a juvenile Satin Flycatcher (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Old Coach Road, Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, February 2018]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Oct - Jan

Eggs: 3

Incubation period: 15 - 17(?) days

Fledging age: ca. 18? days

Nest building: Female & male(?)

Incubation: Female & male

Dependent care: Female & male

Satin Flycatchers may nest in loose associations, with several pairs nesting only about 50 m from each other. The nest is often located on an usually dead small branch, under a living larger branch.

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Basket

Material: Bark strips, root fibres, webs

Height above ground: 5 - 25 m

Satin Flycatcher nest; note how webs have been used to securely tie it to a rough-barked branch
(photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, in November 2015]

Male Satin Flycatcher on its nest (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, November 2015]

Female Satin Flycatcher on its nest (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, November 2015]

This male Satin Flycatcher has cobwebs on its head... (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Wynnum, QLD, December 2017]

... because it is working on binding the base of its nest (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Wynnum, QLD, December 2017]

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 20 x 15 mm

Colour: Creamy, with light-brown speckles

Shape: Tapered oval

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Migratory

Elementary unit: Solitary/pair

Food, Diet

Like all other members of the Myiagra family known to us, Satin Flycatchers are insect hunters (as their name already suggests).

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.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.

Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Sun, 5 July 2020, 1:07 +00:00