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Citrine Canary-Flycatcher Culicicapa helianthea Scientific name definitions

Peter Clement
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2006

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

11·5 cm; 7–9 g. Small ­olive-yellow flycatcher. Nominate race has olive-yellow head and upperparts to lower back, upperwing and tail; eyering and rump bright yellow; inner webs of flight-feathers dark brown or blackish; bright yellow below; iris dark brown; bill dark horn, base of lower mandible burnt orange; legs brownish-orange. Sexes alike. Juvenile undescribed. Races differ mainly in shade of olive on upperparts and yellow underparts: septentrionalis has dark lores and crown, and upperparts less golden-yellow, well-defined greenish-yellow rump patch, duller yellow below, may show dusky throat and breast (grey-brown feather bases), but deep yellow vent and undertail-coverts; zimmeri is similar to previous in colour of upperparts, but rump more golden and less greenish-tinged, edges of tail feathers deeper rich yellow, almost orange, and underparts deep yellow; panayensis has slightly duller eyering, slightly more extensively yellow rump, dark brown wings and tail with yellow fringes, slightly deeper yellow below, throat to breast with olive wash; mayri has crown and back greener and less suffused with yellow, cheeks also paler and contrasting with crown, less rich yellow on rump and underparts, throat paler or greyer.

Systematics History

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Five subspecies recognized.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Culicicapa helianthea septentrionalis Scientific name definitions

Distribution

N Luzon (Benguet and Lepanto), in N Philippines.
SUBSPECIES

Culicicapa helianthea zimmeri Scientific name definitions

Distribution

C and S Luzon.
SUBSPECIES

Culicicapa helianthea panayensis Scientific name definitions

Distribution

W and C Philippines (Palawan, Panay, Negros, Cebu, Biliran, Leyte, Mindanao).
SUBSPECIES

Culicicapa helianthea mayri Scientific name definitions

Distribution

SW Sulu Archipelago (Tawitawi and Bongao).
SUBSPECIES

Culicicapa helianthea helianthea Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Sulawesi, Banggai Is, Sula Archipelago and Selayar I.

Distribution

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.

Habitat

Lowland to submontane and upper montane forests, forest edges, secondary growth and edges of cultivation; between 500 m and 1500 m on Sulawesi and to 2500 m in Philippines, but apparently only in lowlands on Taliabu (Sula Is).

Movement

Resident.

Diet and Foraging

Food items not well known but include small invertebrates, principally flies (Diptera). Usually in pairs in breeding season; otherwise solitary, but often in mixed-species flocks. Perches upright. Actively forages in middle levels and lower canopy of forest trees and in montane shrubs; gleans insects from among foliage, as well as pursuing prey in flight.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song a series of 4–5 loud, clear notes at varying pitch or with rising and falling buzzing phrases, “tsu-si-tchu-si-si” or “sweet su sweet”, concluding with a short trill, repeated at regular intervals. Calls include “tsu-tsu-tswee”, also “speeet” and a long, staccato and nasal trill.

Breeding

Birds in breeding condition in Apr and May, and nestlings found in Jun and Jul. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Locally fairly common in Philippines. Widespread and variably uncommon to very common on Sulawesi. Discovered in Sula Is in 1988, and now found to be moderately common on both main islands (Taliabu and Mangole).
Distribution of the Citrine Canary-Flycatcher - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Citrine Canary-Flycatcher

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Clement, P. (2020). Citrine Canary-Flycatcher (Culicicapa helianthea), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.citcaf1.01
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