Fun Collared Flycatcher Facts For Kids

The collared flycatcher is a little passerine bird (songbird or perching bird) of the Old World flycatcher family. It breeds in the Southeastern parts of Europe and is a rare occupant of the western parts of Europe. It also migrates to Africa for wintering. The distribution of the collared flycatchers is different from those of the pied flycatchers. The pied flycatcher breeds throughout Europe. The semi-collared flycatcher is intermediate in appearance between the Ostrava collared flycatcher and the pied flycatcher. The pied flycatcher is a bit smaller than a house sparrow. Also, the pied flycatcher is becoming rare in certain parts of the United Kingdom. It has been added to the Red Data List in the UK. Western Palearctic black and white flycatcher is a term used for a group of similar-looking birds in the same genus.

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If you like reading this, you may also like reading about the hummingbird and the glossy ibis. 

What type of animal is a collared flycatcher?

The collared flycatcher ficedula albicollis is a bird belonging to phylum Chordata, the order Passeriformes, and genus Ficedula.

What class of animal does a collared flycatcher belong to?

The collared flycatcher ficedula albicollis belongs to the class Aves.

How many collared flycatchers are there in the world?

The collared flycatcher population size is decent. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, there are 3-6 million mature individuals of the collared flycatcher ficedula albicollis in the world. The population of the collared flycatcher ficedula albicollis is increasing.

Where does a collared flycatcher live?

The collared flycatcher lives in Europe and Africa. According to the world map, the bird mainly breeds in the southeastern parts of Europe. It is also seen in some parts of Russia. The distribution in the western parts of Europe is scarce.

What is a collared flycatcher's habitat?

The collared flycatcher's natural habitat is in moist woodlands, open forests, orchards, and gardens. The bird with a white collar is also found in forests with deciduous trees.

Who do collared flycatchers live with?

The collared flycatchers may be seen in pairs in the breeding season.

How long does a collared flycatcher live?

The information is not available for the species. However, the pied flycatchers can live for a maximum of 15 years. They can live for an average of two to three years in the wild.

How do they reproduce?

The females build a nest with leaves, dry grass, and stalks. Usually, one to nine eggs are laid in one clutch in the nest. The pairs are single-brooded. The breeding season is in the months of May to June. The bird is territorial during the formation of the pairs and courtship displays. The nest is built by the females of the species in a hole above the ground in a tree or a building. The eggs are incubated by the females of the species for 12-14 days. The females of the species start incubation with the penultimate egg. The chicks are cared for by both the male and the female. The nestling period is for 15-18 days. Usually, the birds start breeding when they are around one year of age. The image of a collared flycatcher removing eggs is beautiful.

What is their conservation status?

 According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, the collared flycatcher is classified as of Least Concern.

What do collared flycatchers look like?

While giving a description of the birds, the colors black and white are mentioned most. The features of the male bird and the female bird are different for this species. The physical features are the key to identifying the sex of the bird. The breeding male mainly has a glossy head and forehead that is black in color. The hindneck of the breeding male is covered in a large white collar. The rump and back of the breeding male are black and white. The tail of the breeding male is mainly black with an occasional large white wing patch. The non-breeding male has greyish-brown upperparts instead of black. A breeding male of the collared flycatcher is darker in color than those of the ficedula hypoleuca. The breeding female collared flycatcher has gray-brown outer parts. The collared flycatcher female has a creamy forehead. The large white collar of the female of this family is a pale collar. The rump is also pale. The feathers are dark brown in color. The breeding male has a large white patch on closed wings. The white patch is more prominent in the F. semitorquata.

How cute are they?

The birds are very cute with their soft feathery coat and white patch or white wing patch. The semi-collared flycatcher juvenile is also very cute.

How do they communicate?

The contact call of the birds comprises a soft and single 'tsrr'. The song of the bird is a short series of thin, high notes that are drawn out. The song resembles that of a European Robin (Erithacus rubecula). The song is slower and higher in pitch than the song of Ficedula hypoleuca. The contact alarm call is a single clear, thin note that is drawn out, a 'sieb' or 'seep' combined with a 'tck' in alarm, a 'tck-seep'.

How big is a collared flycatcher?

The average length of the collared flycatcher is about 5.1 in (13 cm). The collared flycatcher and the pied flycatcher are similar in length. Red finches are similar in build to our black and white collared friends.

How fast can a collared flycatcher fly?

Though the exact information is not available for the species yet they are known to be fast-flying birds.

How much does a collared flycatcher weigh?

The collared flycatcher ficedula albicollis weighs around 0.4-0.5 oz (10.5–13.5 g) on average.

What are the male and female names of the species?

The males and the females of the species do not have sex-specific names.

What would you call a baby collared flycatcher?

A baby collared flycatcher is called a chick.

What do they eat?

Flycatchers are omnivores. They may also be called insectivores. They feed on insects and arthropods. They feed on ants, beetles, mayflies, earwigs, grasshoppers, dragonflies, bugs, and caterpillars. They may also feed on seeds and grains.

Are they poisonous?

Flycatchers are not poisonous. These cute little ones are not particularly harmful to humans.

Would they make a good pet?

Though the exact information is not available for the species yet we can definitely say that these cute little birds are better off left in the wild.

Did you know...

Pied flycatchers can mimic the notes that make up the song of the other flycatchers in sympatric populations.

The white-throated sparrow collared flycatcher is a beautiful avian species.

The study related to the cost of reproduction in the lars Gustafsson collared flycatcher is infamous.

Where do flycatchers migrate to?

The collared flycatcher, ficedula albicollis, is a migratory bird. The collared flycatcher range map is diverse. However, proper migration routes of non-breeding birds are not known. They fly with other birds of the same genus. The aerial views of the birds migrating in the winter months are beautiful. In the August month of every year, the collared flycatcher ficedula albicollis migrates South to reach the Mediterranean regions and the Sahara. They migrate to southern Africa for the winter months. They return to Gotland in the month of April. This is because the oak leaves in the oak trees begin to unfold during this time. The oak leaves are food for the caterpillars and caterpillars in turn are food for the collared flycatchers.

Do flycatchers mate for life?

Polygamy in collared flycatchers is rare. The collared flycatcher is essentially monogamous.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other birds including vesper sparrow facts and burrowing owl facts pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable bird coloring pages.