Fairy Flycatcher
Stenostira scita
Karoo. Grey cap and upper body; black tail; mask and black wings with white bar; pink central breast.
Flycatchers
LC
Endemic
Description
Common endemic resident. Very small grey-and-black bird with conspicuous white wing-bar and outer tail-feathers. The pink central belly is inconspicuous in the field. Immature has brownish rather than grey plumage. The call is a short, sibilant trill ‘kisskisskisskiss’. The short musical song usually descends in pitch. Flits about actively, feeding within bushes or the outer canopy of trees within the Karoo biome, frequently bobbing and fanning its tail. In the south often occurs near rivers; moves north in winter where it frequents woodlands, montane scrub, plantations and suburbia in Gauteng.
Quick Facts
Size
12 cm - S
Names
A: Feevlieëvanger
Z: uqholompunga
G: Livingstones Rotschwanzschnäpper
Bird Family
Small, insectivorous birds with prominent bristles protruding from the base of their bills. Many of the soberly coloured species catch insects on the ground or in flight after watching from a low perch; others, especially the colourful and ornate species, are leaf-gleaners, but also hawk insects in short aerial sallies.
Distribution
Gallery
Behaviour
Breeding
Habitat
Flits about actively, feeding within bushes or the outer canopy of trees within the 'Karoo' biome, frequently bobbing and fanning its tail. In the south often occurs near rivers; moves north in winter where it frequents 'woodlands', montane scrub, plantations and suburbia in Gauteng.
