Spotted flycatcher? (1 Viewer)

[OldFatherTime]

Could this be a spotted flycatcher? In a Warwickshire wood.

 

[Butty]

Yes. Note fine streaks on forehead and very long primaries.

 

[OldFatherTime]

Yes. Note fine streaks on forehead and very long primaries.

Well that's nice then. Never seen one before in this neck of the woods (sic).

 

[JayFeatherPL]

Yes. Note fine streaks on forehead and very long primaries.

+ blurred streaks on the breast and a strong, long, dark bill should clinch the ID as a spotted flycatcher

 

[OldFatherTime]

I went back this morning with a longer lens!

 

[pianoman]

Lovely. I hadn't seen many this year and then saw 12 together, adults feeding juveniles, in a riverside woodland. So full of character. Congrats on the photos.

 

[Butty]

saw 12 together, adults feeding juveniles

🤔 Clutch size is 4-5 (BTO).

 

[JayFeatherPL]

🤔 Clutch size is 4-5 (BTO).

That's weird😲 Maybe two families have merged (or just accidentally met together)? Maybe birds from the previous clutch help parents to feed the second clutch, but I haven't heard about such behaviour in spotted flycatchers...

 

[TheBlackGrouse]

Over here Spotted Flycatchers are not very common anymore but in good regions you can find larger groups sometimes (10 - 12). That's late in the season, july or august. Nests can be quite close to each other so these may be the neighbours with their young.

However, up to nine eggs are reported, as well as males having a second territory. They might have some strategies to take advantage of good weather conditions, since they are very dependent on them.

 

[Joern Lehmhus]

That's weird😲 Maybe two families have merged (or just accidentally met together)? Maybe birds from the previous clutch help parents to feed the second clutch, but I haven't heard about such behaviour in spotted flycatchers...

Possibly two or three families have been breeding not too far away from each other and moved to a nearby habitat with lots of suitable insect food afterwards once the young had fledged ... at least thats what I saw in Sweden some years ago, two families (4 adults , 7 young and it seemed 2 adults were attending to 3, the other two to 4 young- nice to watch!)

 

[pianoman]

There were four adults that I could see, and an additional 8 birds most or all of which were juveniles - maybe 2 adult pairs and 4 juveniles each pair? My counting wasn't very scientific and they were flitting all over the place, but the numbers aren't that far off. Certainly more than I've ever seen together. Visiting the same spot a couple of days later there was no sign of any of them. They were feeding some fat juicy insects of some kind so there must have been a flush of tasty flying insects there at the time.

 

[PYRTLE]

The last known breeding of SF in our village saw one male looking after two nests, one of them in my garden occupying a nest box whilst the other was opposite on a porch ledge. They held 3 and 5 eggs which all fledged, though one brood was a day later. Whilst one of the females ( ringed ) was noted trying to feed the young of her rivals nest, despite still having her own developing chicks.
Amazing stuff.