Hemipus picatus
The Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike (Hemipus picatus) is a striking, small passerine bird, measuring approximately 13-14 cm in length and weighing around 8-12 grams. Its most distinctive features include a glossy black head, upperparts, and tail, sharply contrasted by brilliant white underparts and a prominent white bar across its wing, giving the species its common name. A white rump is also a key identification mark. Taxonomically, it belongs to the family Vangidae (Vangas and allies), a group...
Primarily inhabiting evergreen and mixed deciduous forests, the Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike favors forest edges, secondary growth, and wooded plantations, typically at low to mid-elevations up to 2,000 meters.
The Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike feeds almost exclusively on small invertebrates, predominantly insects such as caterpillars, beetles, flies, ants, and spiders, captured through aerial sallies and gleaning from vegetation.
This diurnal species is an active forager, often seen singly, in pairs, or small family groups, occasionally joining mixed-species foraging flocks outside the breeding season. Its foraging strategy is a blend of flycatcher-like aerial sallies to snatch insects on the wing, and gleaning insects fr...
The Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike has an extensive resident range across the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Its breeding range extends from the lower Himalayas in northern India, Nepal, and Bhutan, south through peninsular India (including the Western and Eastern Ghats), and Sri Lanka. Ea...
Least Concern
- The taxonomic classification of the Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike has been a subject of debate, having been moved between the cuckoo-shrike (Campephagidae) and iora (Aegithinidae) families before its current placement in Vangidae, reflecting evolutionary complexities. - Its common name perfectly...