The blue-fronted blue flycatcher, also known as the blue-fronted flycatcher, is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
Region
Sulawesi, Indonesia
Typical Environment
Occurs in subtropical to tropical moist montane forests, especially mossy and mature evergreen forest. It uses interior forest, ridgelines, and edges, and occasionally adjacent secondary growth if canopy cover remains. Birds typically occupy midstory to lower canopy strata, using shaded perches for aerial sallies. It is patchily distributed along suitable mountain ranges where continuous forest remains.
Altitude Range
900–2500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
This shy montane flycatcher is found only on Sulawesi, Indonesia, where males show a distinctive brighter blue forehead that gives the species its name. It often forages by making short sallies from shaded perches in the midstory and may join mixed-species flocks. Its preference for intact montane forest makes it sensitive to extensive habitat loss, though it currently persists across several mountain ranges.
Temperament
solitary and territorial
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with quick aerial sallies
Social Behavior
Typically encountered singly or in pairs within territories, especially during the breeding season. Nests are placed in cavities or protected crevices, lined with fine plant fibers and moss. Outside breeding, it may loosely accompany mixed-species flocks moving through the midstory.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
A series of thin, high-pitched whistles and brief trills delivered from a shaded perch. Calls include sharp, soft tsip notes used during foraging and contact.
Plumage
Male is cobalt-blue above with a brighter blue forehead and paler blue tones on the face and breast, grading to whitish or grayish underparts. Female is duller with brownish-olive upperparts tinged bluish and paler grayish underparts. Both sexes show a neat, compact flycatcher build with clean, unspotted plumage.
Diet
Primarily small flying insects such as flies, moths, and beetles, taken in midair during short sallies from perches. Also gleans small arthropods from leaves and twigs in the midstory. Occasionally takes caterpillars or other soft-bodied invertebrates from foliage.
Preferred Environment
Feeds within shaded midstory and lower canopy of moist montane forest, often along forest edges, clearings, and along ridgelines where insect activity concentrates. Uses sheltered perches with open airspace for short hawking flights.
