Spotted Forktail - BirdForum Opus

Nominate subspecies
Photo by Alok Tewari
Distt. Nainital, Alt. 5000ft., Uttarakhand Himalayas, India, October-2015

Enicurus maculatus

Identification

26 cm (10¼ in)

• Black and white plumage
• White spots on mantle
• Long tail

Similar Species

White-crowned Forktail

Distribution

Asia: found in Afghanistan, China, Tibet, Nepal
South Asia: Pakistan, India, Eastern and Western [Himalayas]], Bangladesh, Bhutan
Southeast Asia: Indochina, Myanmar and Vietnam

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 4 subspecies^[1]:

• E. m. maculatus:

• Himalayas of northern Afghanistan to Kashmir, Nepal and southern Tibet

• E. m. guttatus:

• Himalayas of extreme eastern Nepal to south-western China and Myanmar

• E. m. bacatus:

• Mountains of southern China (south-eastern Yunnan and north-western Fujian) to northern Vietnam

• E. m. robinsoni:

  South Vietnam (Da Lat Plateau)

Habitat

Small upland rocky streams and rivulets.

Behaviour

Diet

They pick insects, larvae and molluscs from stones along mountain streams. They also eat caterpillars and other insects such as craneflies

Vocalisation

Call: apparently a beautiful loud whistle

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved April 2015)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Spotted Forktail. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 10 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Spotted_Forktail

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