The Sumba flycatcher is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to Indonesia.
Region
Lesser Sunda Islands
Typical Environment
Occurs only on Sumba, using primary and secondary moist forests, forest edges, and well-wooded ravines. It typically forages in the forest understory and mid-canopy, especially in shaded interiors. It may persist in selectively logged forest and older secondary growth, but is less frequent in heavily degraded habitats. Riparian corridors and gullies with dense cover are important microhabitats.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1200 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The Sumba flycatcher is confined to Sumba Island in Indonesia, where it favors intact and lightly disturbed forest. It is a quiet, often inconspicuous understory and midstory bird that hunts by short sallies from shaded perches. Ongoing habitat loss on Sumba poses the main threat to this species.
Temperament
solitary and territorial
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with brief sallies
Social Behavior
Usually encountered singly or in pairs, maintaining small territories within forest. During breeding, pairs construct a small cup nest concealed in forks, cavities, or dense vegetation. Both parents typically attend to chicks and defend the nest area.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Song is a soft series of thin, high-pitched whistles and short trills delivered from a shaded perch. Calls include faint chips and tsik notes used during foraging and contact.
Plumage
Small, plain flycatcher with brown to olive-brown upperparts and paler buffy underparts; throat often slightly paler with subtle streaking. Wings are darker with faint, diffuse edging; tail brown. Overall appearance is subdued and well-suited to shady forest.
Diet
Primarily small flying and gleaned insects such as flies, beetles, moths, and ants; also takes spiders and other small arthropods. It hunts by sallying from low to mid-level perches and by gleaning from leaves, twigs, and vine tangles. Prey is often captured in short, precise flights within shaded forest strata.
Preferred Environment
Feeds in forest interior and along quiet edges, especially where there is dense understory and mid-canopy structure. Frequently uses perches near clearings, gaps, and along streams within forest.
