Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike
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The Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike (Hemipus picatus) is a small passerine bird in the cuckoo-shrike family. It is found in tropical southern Asia from the Himalayas and hills of the Indian subcontinent east to Indonesia.
The Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike is a common resident breeding bird in forest and scrub in hilly country. This bird nests high up in the treetops. The nest is a cup-like structure into which two or three spotted green eggs are laid and incubated by the female.
The Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike is 15cm long with a strong dark beak and long wings. The male has glossy black upperparts and grey underparts. It has white tail edges, rump, moustachial stripes and wing bars. The female is brown above, with the same white markings.
There is significant racial variation. The male H. p. capitalis of the Himalayas has brown upperparts like the female, but has a solidly black crown and nape.
This bird catches insects in trees by flycatching or while perched. It will associate with other small birds such as babblers, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch and white-eyes in feeding flocks.
References
- BirdLife International (2004). [Hemipus picatus]. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6
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