Verditer Flycatcher | |
---|---|
Adult at IISc Bangalore, India. | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Muscicapidae |
Genus: | Eumyias |
Species: | E. thalassina |
Binomial name | |
Eumyias thalassina Swainson, 1838 |
The Verditer Flycatcher (Eumyias thalassina) is an Old World flycatcher found in the Indian subcontinent, especially in the Lower Himalaya. It is named after its distinctive shade of copper-sulphate blue and has a dark patch between the eyes and above the bill base. The adult males are intense blue on all areas of the body, except for the black eye-patch and grey vent. Adult females and sub-adults are lighter blue. They are also interesting among the flycatchers in that they forage above the canopy level and perching on electric wires or exposed tree top branches.
This species was earlier placed in the genus Muscicapa and it has been suggested that it is closer to the Niltava flycatchers.[1]