The Bornean blue flycatcher is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, where it is endemic to the island of Borneo. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
Region
Borneo
Typical Environment
Occurs in montane evergreen and mossy forests across Borneo, including Sabah and Sarawak (Malaysia), Brunei, and Kalimantan (Indonesia). Favors cool, humid slopes, ravines, and riparian corridors with dense understory. Often keeps to shaded interiors rather than forest edges. Typically found from lower to upper montane zones where canopy cover is continuous and leaf litter is abundant. Uses perches along stream banks and trail edges to launch short foraging sallies.
Altitude Range
600–2000 m
Climate Zone
Highland
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Endemic to the island of Borneo, this flycatcher favors cool, moist montane forests and shaded stream gullies. Males are striking cobalt-blue with a warm orange breast, while females are more subdued and brownish. It forages by short sallies from low to mid-level perches, snapping up insects in dim forest understory. Although habitat loss is a concern in parts of Borneo, it is currently not considered globally threatened.
Temperament
shy and skulking
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with quick sallies from perches
Social Behavior
Usually solitary or in pairs, especially during the breeding season. Holds small territories in dense montane understory near streams. Nests are cup-shaped, placed low in saplings, banks, or fern tangles; typical clutch size is 2–4 eggs. Both parents participate in provisioning the young.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Song is a series of thin, sweet whistles and clear, ringing phrases given from shaded perches. Calls include sharp ticks and soft seep notes used during foraging and pair contact. Vocalizations carry modestly through dense forest but are not particularly loud.
Plumage
Male with vivid cobalt-blue head and upperparts, orange to rufous throat and breast grading to whitish belly; wings and tail deep blue. Female is brown-olive above with bluish tones on wings and tail, and buffy underparts. Both sexes have a short, broad-based bill suited to flycatching and a slightly hooked tip.
Diet
Primarily small flying and ground-dwelling insects such as flies, beetles, moths, and caterpillars, as well as spiders. Captures prey by sallying from low to mid-level perches and by gleaning from foliage and trunks. Occasionally takes small berries when insect activity is low, but animal prey dominates.
Preferred Environment
Feeds in dim understory and along shaded forest streams, gullies, and trail edges. Uses low perches between 1–5 m above ground to watch and launch at passing insects. Often forages in areas with abundant leaf litter and dense fern or shrub cover.
