Pale-chinned Flycatcher Cyornis poliogenys Scientific name definitions

15·5–18 cm. Medium-sized to large, fairly nondescript olive-brown flycatcher. Nominate race has greyish crown and face; broad pale buff on lores to eyering separated from buff of chin and throat by narrow dark malar stripe; nape and upperparts, including upperwing-coverts, olive-brown, edges of flight-feathers slightly warmer or light rufous-brown; uppertail-coverts and tail rich rufous-brown; breast and flanks washed light orange, lower flanks buffish-brown, belly whitish, becoming creamy on undertail-coverts; iris dark brown; bill black; legs pale greyish-pink or pinkish-brown. Sexes alike. Juvenile has head and upperparts dark olive-brown, heavily speckled with pale buff and broadly barred darker, wing and tail as adult or slightly duller, wing-coverts with small pale buffish tips (forming indistinct wingbars), chin and throat light buff, breast heavily barred dark brown and buff, fading on flanks, belly whitish. Race cachariensis has head and back dull olive-brown, lacks grey tinge on head, has deeper chestnut on uppertail-coverts and edges of tail, darker orange-rufous on breast extending to throat; laurentei differs from nominate in having head concolorous with upperparts or slightly more olive-toned, chin and upper throat washed duller, breast rufous, flanks grey, and belly and undertail-coverts white, female in having buffish-brown flanks, brown upper mandible and brownish-grey base of lower mandible; vernayi male has variable amount of bluish-grey above, more bluish in S (N Andhra Pradesh) and browner in N (Orissa), most with bluish-grey on head and edges of flight-feathers and outer tail feathers, others with blue restricted to head only.

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• Pale-chinned x Tickell's Blue Flycatcher (hybrid) Cyornis poliogenys x tickelliae

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Open broadleaf deciduous and evergreen forests, to 1500 m; at 270–1335 m in Bhutan, and to 1000 m in peninsular India (Eastern Ghats). In non-breeding season occurs more widely in open country with scrub.

Resident.

Diet not well known, but includes small to medium-sized invertebrates. Usually solitary or in pairs. Forages at all levels, from undergrowth and low bushes to canopy of forest trees; occasionally near or on ground.

Song a loud, rising and falling (but broadly descending) series of up to 11 high-pitched notes, “doe-doe-chi-cha, su-rani-so-swent, snareeti-do-deee”, occasionally interspersed with clucking and harsher “tchut-tchut” notes. Calls include a grating rattle and a repeated “tik” note.

Season mid-Apr to end Jun. Nest a bracket-shaped or cup-shaped structure of moss, leaves, dry grass and fine rootlets, placed in depression in bank or among boulders or up to 2 m from ground in tree stump. Clutch 3–5 eggs; incubation by both sexes; no information on duration of incubation and fledging periods.

Not globally threatened. Fairly common or locally common in Nepal, NE India and Bangladesh; uncommon in Bhutan and Myanmar. In China, fairly common in Tibet but uncommon in Yunnan. Present in several protected areas, including Royal Chitwan National Park (Nepal) and Dibru-Saikhowa National Park (India).