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Semicollared Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) German name(s): "Halbringschnäpper" Size: 12-13.5 cm; wing span 23-24 cm Weight: 8-17 g

Europe: Family Group 21 Family Group 21 Table European Pied Flycatcher Collared Flycatcher Semicollared Flycatcher Spotted Flycatcher Lesser Whitethroat Common Whitethroat Western Subalpine Warbler Dartford Warbler Sardinian Warbler Barred Warbler Eurasian Blackcap Garden Warbler Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European 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 Semicollared Flycatchers are small insectivore birds. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. Male Semicollared Flycatchers are all black and white. The entire front, from the chin and the sides of the neck below the ear coverts downwards, is white. The head (except for two white patches on the frons) and the back are black. Only the rump is a bit greyish. The mantle, upperwing coverts and flight feathers are also black. The characteristic features of all males in breeding plumage are two small white spots above the base of the bill. Female Semicollared Flycatchers show a similar morphology as males. However, their plumage has less contrast - where the males are black, they are dark-grey and where the males are white they are off-white to light-grey, especially on the chest. In addition, they lack the white spots above the bill. What gives them their name is an incomplete white collar, with just a thin black line down the nape of the neck, that sets off the head from the rest of the body. Males in eclipse are very similar to females, but usually with darker wing feathers and uppertail. The characteristic feature of both sexes is a long thin white mark on the primary coverts, under the prominent white wing bar. Females also have a second, faint wing bar. The irises of both sexes are black. The short, straight bill is dark-grey. Legs and feet are also dark-grey. Juveniles closely resemble females. Twitcher's tip Collared Flycatchers have a complete white neckband, while Semi-collared Flycatchers have a narrow black gap at the nape of the neck and Pied Flycatchers have a wide black gap at the nape of the neck.

Taxonomy, classification See Semicollared 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 Semicollared Flycatcher is available HERE . Semicollared Flycatchers are a migratory species. Their breeding range spans parts of south-eastern Europe, a few sites in Asia Minor, the slopes of the Caucasus and parts of northern Iraq and northern and central Iran. They spend the northern winters in eastern sub-Saharan Africa, from Djibuti to Rwanda and Kenya. On their migration they can be found in between, in particular the near-coastal Middle East, the Sinai peninsula, the river Nile valley and near-coastal Arabia. In Europe Semicollared Flycatchers are found as breeding migrants from the South. Their nominal European breeding range spans only northern Greece and parts of southern Bulgaria. Although thus usually only found in south-eastern Europe during the breeding season, there are a small number of reports from Sicily and from southern/eastern France. Semicollared Flycatchers have a preference for breeding in deciduous or mixed woods, often at low to mid-level altitudes in mountain ranges, usually along creeks or rivers.

Sightings Click here for sighting information G. Pinelas reports finding Semicollared Flycatchers on three separate occasions in Reboleira, Lisbon, Portugal, in September 2016. All sighting and photographic information presented on this page has kindly been contributed by G. Pinelas.

Photos

ADULT

FEMALE

Near-frontal view of a female Semicollared Flycatcher (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Reboleira, Lisbon, Portugal, September 2016]

Near-lateral view of a female Semicollared Flycatcher (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Reboleira, Lisbon, Portugal, September 2016]

Near-lateral view of a female Semicollared Flycatcher (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Reboleira, Lisbon, Portugal, September 2016]

Near-lateral view of a female Semicollared Flycatcher; note the (faint) second wing bar, the white vertical wing bar almost reaching the edge of the wing and the all-white edge of the outer tail feather (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Reboleira, Lisbon, Portugal, September 2016]

Lateral view of a female Semicollared Flycatcher (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Reboleira, Lisbon, Portugal, September 2016]

Near-dorsal view of a female Semicollared Flycatcher; note the (faint) second wing bar, the white vertical wing bar almost reaching the edge of the wing and the all-white edge of the outer tail feather (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Reboleira, Lisbon, Portugal, September 2016]

Near-dorsal view of a female Semicollared Flycatcher; note the (faint) second wing bar, the white vertical wing bar almost reaching the edge of the wing and the all-white edge of the outer tail feather (photo courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Reboleira, Lisbon, Portugal, September 2016]

Since the birds shown here are far out of range, here a detailed description of how the species was distinguished from the similar Pied Flycatcher, which is a native of Portugal.

• The bird on the left has a second wing bar, as found in females of the Semicollared Flycatcher and the Collared Flycatcher, but NOT in the Pied Flycatcher.
• The female on the left shows a long, thin vertical wing bar that almost reaches the edge of the wing. This vertical bar is shorter in females of the Pied Flycatcher (right) and broader in the Collared Flycatcher.
• The female on the left has white edges along the entire length of the outer tail feathers. Neither Collared Flycatcher nor Pied Flycatcher show the same.

Direct comparison between a female Semi-collared Flycatcher, left, and a female Pied Flycatcher, right
(photos courtesy of G. Pinelas)
[Reboleira, Lisbon, Portugal, September 2016]

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