White-eyed Slaty-Flycatcher Melaenornis fischeri Scientific name definitions

15 cm; 16–33 g. Nominate race has forehead, crown , ear-coverts, nape, hindneck, side of neck, and upperparts dark bluish-grey; broad eyering whitish-grey; upperwing and tail blackish, glossy, feathers broadly edged dark bluish-grey; chin, throat and breast pale bluish-grey, shading to white in centre of belly; flanks , vent and undertail-coverts pale bluish-grey, thighs darker; underwing-coverts and axillaries whitish-grey; iris dark brown; bill black at tip, shading to bluish at base; legs black. Differs from M. brunneus and M. chocolatinus in much greyer, less brown, appearance, from latter also in dark eyes; from Fraseria caerulescens in larger size, longer tail, lack of strong face pattern. Sexes alike. Juvenile has hardly any eyering, mantle blue-grey, rest of upperparts sootier, many pale buff spots from forehead to mantle (and fewer on back, scapulars and upperwing-coverts), pale buff bars on rump and uppertail-coverts, tertials and primary coverts with whitish tips, chin and throat grey, breast pale buff with dark brown crescents, belly and flanks off-white with dark brown bars, undertail-coverts whitish; immature not properly described. Race <em>toruensis</em> has eyering narrow and inconspicuous; nyikensis has darker upperparts than nominate, eyering narrow but distinct, bill black, in SW of range some with whiter throat and belly (“ufipae”); semicinctus is like nominate, except that white eyering is broken in front of eye and to lesser extent also behind eye.

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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.

Dense montane forest, more at edge than in interior; also woodland, trees in villages, and Hagenia woods of C Kivu volcanoes; at 1350–3380 m, mostly 1400–2500 m. In Kenya occurs at edges of many forest types, including fringing forest and dry forest; also in open woodland, scattered trees in open areas with short grass, and gardens.

No evidence for movements.

Eats grasshoppers and crickets (Orthoptera), mantids (Mantidae), beetles (of family Scarabaeidae), noctuid moths (Lepidoptera), ants and honeybees (Hymenoptera), flies (Diptera) and termites (Isoptera); also small amphibians (frogs) and reptiles (skinks), and occasionally small berries. Usually forages in pairs or in family parties; forages actively until almost dark. Perches low on bare boughs, saplings and bushes, also uses overhead wires as lookout posts; makes swift sallies after passing insects, also scans ground and flies down to catch prey, returning with it to perch (both methods used about equally). Also enters forest where canopy broken, and flycatches in gaps around tall trees. Attracted to flying swarms of ants and termites, and to insects flushed by ants swarming on tree trunks. Taps prey on perch and swallows it whole; squeezes abdomen of honeybees (Apis) until sting emerges, then lays bee down and pulls sting out with bill. On ground, prey taken from bare ground, newly dug soil and leaf litter; flicks dead leaves over to extract moths, or flutters over leaves to frighten them out.

Song a high-pitched, thin, sweet simple phrase, “tsp, swee-oo-sweetoo”, varying only in first small “tsp” notes. Call a harsh, nasal “screescreet”; alarm a single or double “tchuiskere cheeweet”.

Indications of breeding in Feb, May–Jun and Aug in DRCongo, and breeds in Sept–Oct in Zambia and Malawi; in E Africa in all months, mainly Sept–Jan and Apr–May, in short rains and long rains, but also in dry season; usually double-brooded in Kenyan long rains. Monogamous. Solitary, once three adults attended a nest; territorial. Nest built by male and female, taking nearly 2 weeks (once 4 weeks), a cup mainly of moss, usually mixed with lichens and spider web, on thick foundation of twigs, cup neatly made with fine rootlets, lichen fragments and fine tendrils, lined with hairs and feathers, cup diameter 5 cm, depth 3 cm; nest usually placed in tree infested with lichen and mistletoe. Clutch 2–4 eggs, usually 2–3; incubation by both sexes, mainly by female, period 12–13 days; chicks fed by both parents, nestling period 16 days; young remain with parents for at least 4 weeks after leaving nest.

Not globally threatened. Common in Sudan, Uganda and Kenya; quite common in Rwanda and Burundi. In Kenya, density of this species around Nairobi increased greatly in 1940s and 1950s following suburbanization.