Little Forktail Enicurus scouleri Scientific name definitions

12–14 cm; 11–19 g. Smallest forktail , with notched, relatively short tail. Has black head to upper breast, back, wings and central tail, with white rounded forehead , wing patch, lower back to rump (with dark grey bar), outer tail and lower breast to undertail-coverts, with grey-dappled flanks; black bill, pink legs. Sexes similar. Juvenile is as adult, but with dark forehead, white with dark scaling below.

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Tajikistan and W Tien Shan and Pamir-Alai E through Himalayas to NE India (Arunachal Pradesh and S Assam hills), C & E China (N to S Gansu and N Zhejiang), W Myanmar (possibly winter only), NW Vietnam, and Taiwan.

Margins of montane watercourses , from small rocky streams less than 3 m wide to the most rugged rivers 30–40 m across. Seems to prefer small to medium-sized streams (and thus often small tributaries of large rivers), then often particularly favouring precipitous areas with little shady canyons, damp fern-clad gorges and associated dashing waterfalls, typically with at least bushy and mainly adjacent forest vegetation. In Afghanistan always apparently associated with waterfalls or the most turbulent parts of streams. Breeds at 1800–3300 m, wintering at 1000–2000 m, sometimes down to plains level (Myanmar); in Nepal, recorded at 600–1600 m in winter; in W China 1100–2500 m.

Chiefly aquatic insects and crustacea; nine stomachs from Tadjikistan contained tipulids, staphylinid beetles, buprestid beetles, ants, flies and some plant matter, while another held plant remains and grit. Insects seen taken to nestlings. Forages by picking prey, dead and alive, off wet rocks, sometimes by standing in shallow rapids and picking out passing morsels, sometimes ascending water-washed rocks against current (sometimes body almost submerged, sometimes submerging head entirely to take prey), gleaning from water and rock surface, also from adjacent leaves and grass; occasionally makes short flycatching sallies or hover-picks floating item from surface. In study in Nepal, 55% of observations of foraging position involved mid-river rocks, 29% marginal rocks and 16% other positions in river; most time (98%) spent in picking prey from wet rocks and waterfalls, 80–124 pecks per minute, taking almost exclusively tiny aquatic larval or nymphal stages of insects such as mayfly nymphs, caddis larvae and blackfly (Simulum) larvae. Pair studied in Pakistan foraged for brief periods in early morning, at midday and in evening; much of rest of time spent in loafing in shelter, sometimes on low perch in bush.

Relatively silent. Song and calls not well distinguished, two vocalizations reported: very soft, clear “tji-u tji-u tji-u tji-u…” (presumably the rather insistent twitter reported in Afghanistan); and loud thin “ts-youeee”, commonly regarded as song but possibly better classified as a self-advertising call.