Chats, Old World flycatchers and allies | Muscicapidae

Vliegenvangers | Papamoscas y afines

Worldwide this is a large Old World family; in this region only a handful of species breed, in the far northwest, and the rest turn up as strays on the western islands. What the members share is an upright stance on a low lookout — a stone, a fence post, a tussock — from which they drop onto prey on the ground and then return; the legs are slender and fairly long, the bill short and broad at the base. The plumage is mostly grey or brown, with the colour concentrated on the throat, rump or tail base and revealed only as the bird flies off or spreads its tail. Nesting is in narrow crevices: among stones, in an abandoned rodent burrow or under an overhanging tussock, with a tight entrance leading deep inside. The song is loud and varied and often carries snatches of imitation. The northwestern breeders do not head south across the continent in autumn but cross back over the sea to Asia and travel on from there as far as Africa or southern Asia.