Dark-sided Flycatcher

Overview

Dark-sided Flycatcher: Small gray-brown flycatcher with white underparts and gray-brown wash on sides and flanks. Long gray-brown wings have a pale wing bar. White throat with malar mark extends to the sides forming a partial white collar; white eye-ring. Short, dark bill. Dark gray-brown tail.

Range and Habitat

Dark-sided Flycatcher: Native of Siberia, this bird breeds and nests in the evergreen forests of Asia. Dark-sided Flycatcher can be found almost everywhere in Europe and Asia to the northern parts of India. Winters in Africa. Occasionally it has been observed in the western Aleutian Islands of Alaska. Inhabits mixed conifer woodlands on plains and hills.

INTERESTING FACTS

Flycatchers have whiskers. Bird whiskers differ from the stiff hairs near the mouths of mammals like cats and dogs. They are specialized feathers and not hairs.
The Dark-sided flycatcher is also known as the Siberian or Sooty Flycatcher, the latter name is also used for the Sooty Flycatcher (M. infuscata) of Africa.
There are more species of Tyrant Flycatchers than in any other family of birds in the world with 400 worldwide and 44 in North America. They are New World birds found in most habitats in North and South America.
A group of flycatchers has many collective nouns, including an "outfield", "swatting", "zapper", and "zipper" of flycatchers.

The Dark-sided Flycatcher has a large range, estimated globally at 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 square kilometers. It is native to the nations of Asia as well as the United States and prefers forest or shrubland ecosystems. The global population of this bird has not been exactly determined, but it does not appear to meet population decline criteria that would necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. The current evaluation status of the Dark-sided Flycatcher is Least Concern.