Tickell's Blue Flycatcher
Cyornis tickelliae
The Tickell's Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis tickelliae) is a uncommon chats, old world flycatchers, and alli found in 9 countries, weighing about 16 g. Tickell's blue flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family.
About the Tickell's Blue Flycatcher
Tickell's blue flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family. This is an insectivorous species which breeds in tropical Asia, from the Indian subcontinent eastwards to Bangladesh and western Myanmar. The Indochinese blue flycatcher was formerly considered conspecific. They are blue on the upperparts and the throat and breast are rufous. They are found in dense scrub to forest habitats. The name commemorates the wife of the British ornithologist Samuel Tickell who collected in India and Burma.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How to identify it
Tickell's blue flycatcher is about 11–12 cm long. It sits upright and forages mainly in the overgrowth. The male's upper parts are bright blue, its throat and breast are red, and the rest of the underparts are white. The female is duller blue with a brighter blue brow, shoulder, rump, and tail. It hybridizes with the pale-chinned blue flycatcher (Cyornis poliogenys) in the Eastern Ghats of India and these hybrids have sometimes been treated as a subspecies vernayi.
What the Tickell's Blue Flycatcher sounds like
Where it lives
When to see it
Best months: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, October, November, December, with peak activity in February. It is a variable species across most of its range.
Easily confused with
Quick questions
- How do you identify a Tickell's Blue Flycatcher?
- Tickell's blue flycatcher is about 11–12 cm long. Full identification notes are on this page.
- How big is a Tickell's Blue Flycatcher?
- The Tickell's Blue Flycatcher is a small sized bird weighing about 16 g.
- Where can you see a Tickell's Blue Flycatcher?
- The Tickell's Blue Flycatcher occurs in 9 countries, including India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.
- What does a Tickell's Blue Flycatcher sound like?
- You can listen to 3 field recordings of the Tickell's Blue Flycatcher on this page, contributed to xeno-canto under open licences.
- What birds look similar to a Tickell's Blue Flycatcher?
- The Tickell's Blue Flycatcher is most easily confused with the Blue-throated Blue Flycatcher, the Hainan Blue Flycatcher and the Hill Blue Flycatcher.
- Is the Tickell's Blue Flycatcher endangered?
- The Tickell's Blue Flycatcher is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Learn the Tickell's Blue Flycatcher for real
BeakBrain drills you on photos and calls until you can greet this bird by name in the field. Free to play, on any device.
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