Erythrocercus livingstonei
The Livingstone's Flycatcher (Erythrocercus livingstonei) is a diminutive and strikingly colored passerine, measuring approximately 9-10 cm (3.5-3.9 inches) in length and weighing just a few grams. Its most distinctive features include a bright rufous back, rump, and a long, often fanned rufous tail tipped with dusky feathers. The head is a contrasting grey, while the underparts are clean white, sometimes with a yellowish wash on the flanks. A subtle, pale yellow eye-ring can sometimes be obs...
This species primarily inhabits dense riverine forests, thickets, and woodlands, favoring riparian zones with tangled undergrowth, typically at low to mid-elevations.
Their diet consists almost exclusively of small insects, including beetles, caterpillars, ants, and spiders, which they procure through active gleaning and occasional aerial hawking.
Livingstone's Flycatcher is a highly active diurnal bird, constantly flitting and gleaning through the foliage, rarely sitting still for long. It primarily forages by gleaning insects and larvae from leaves and twigs, often hanging upside down or making short, acrobatic sallies to catch prey in m...
Livingstone's Flycatcher is an endemic resident species found across a significant portion of East-Central and Southern Africa. Its primary distribution encompasses Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and extends into southern Tanzania and parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The species ...
Least Concern
- Named after the renowned Scottish explorer and missionary, David Livingstone, who explored much of central and southern Africa. - Despite its common name, it is not a 'true flycatcher' (family Muscicapidae) but rather belongs to the Cisticolidae, an Old World warbler family, highlighting the co...