Spotted Flycatcher

• GeneralIt takes insects on the wing from a branch and always returns to the same perch.
• Its hunting technique is unmistakable: it waits upright on a visible perch, darts out in a short, acrobatic flight to catch an insect in mid-air, and returns to exactly the same spot, repeating it dozens of times an hour.
• It is one of the last migrants to arrive in Spain in spring, often well into May, because it depends on flying insects being plentiful.
• Its European decline, of more than fifty per cent over several decades, is one of the most frequently cited indicators of the fall in flying-insect biomass documented across the continent.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat and environment

Open woodland, dehesa, parks, gardens and courtyards of Europe; winters in sub-Saharan Africa

Sexual maturity

12 months

Gestation / incubation

13 days of incubation

Litter / clutch size

4 eggs

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (es): Muscicapa striata