White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher | |
---|---|
Adult of M. f. fischeri | |
Conservation status | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Muscicapidae |
Genus: | Melaenornis |
Species: | M. fischeri |
Binomial name | |
Melaenornis fischeri Reichenow, 1884 |
|
Synonyms | |
Dioptrornis fischeri |
The White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher, Melaenornis fischeri , is a small passerine bird of the genus Melaenornis in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae.
It is native to the African highlands from Ethiopia and Kenya through East Africa to eastern Zaire and Malawi. In Kenya it is mostly absent from the east and the north of the country. It is a highland bird that is common in wooded habitats, including gardens.
It is a very distinctive bird normally seen singly or in pairs. White-eyed Slaty Flycatchers are frequently spotted either hawking for insects or taking them from the ground. They perch with an upright pose on branches, stumps, signposts.
The binomial commemorates the German explorer Gustav Adolf Fischer.