Meet the Locals #4

(Well it's been another very quiet week so some shots from the archives again).

Narcissus Flycatcher (Ficedula narcissina). All the pictures here are of males.

Another east Asian speciality not so well known to foreign birders, this is one of the most attractive summer visitors to Japan. It is endemic to east Asia, breeding in Japan, Taiwan, China, Korea and the far east of Russia. It winters is SE Asia.

This is the only breeding Ficedula species in Japan (although several others do occur as scarce passage visitors or vagrants). The nominate race is the one we see in Hokkaido. Other subspecies occur both in mainland Asia and also on some Japanese subtropical islands.

They start to arrive in south Hokkaido in late April and by early May they are a regular passage visitor to the parks in Hakodate.............







Sometimes they look a little worn.........



They buzz around catching all kinds of creepy crawlies.





They set up temporary territories and their loud warbling song can be heard in several of the local parks..........



By the middle of May they stop passing through but are one of the commonest birds in woodland habitats like that in  Onuma during summer. As the forest thickens they stay in the treetops and you can hear them singing all over the forest. Thay are tricky to see from mid June onwards and I leave the woods to the mosquitoes.

I don't have any pics at all of the female..........but basically they are dull brownish looking birds that resemble the hordes of Asian Brown Flycatchers that pass through at the same time and in the same habitat.

Although they are a common spring sight I only see a few in autumn, I have no idea why that should be................perhaps they migrate earlier when the foliage is still thick and I'm on the beach pestering waders.


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