White-tailed Crested Flycatcher Elminia albonotata Scientific name definitions

13 cm; 5–10 g. A small, crested, mostly dark grey or blackish flycatcher with long graduated tail. Male nominate race has entire head, chin, throat and nape bluish-black (forehead, crown and crest glossy or velvety black); upperparts, including upperwing, slate-grey or tinged bluish, rump to tail brownish-black, broad white tips on all outer rectrices; breast and upper flanks dull slate-grey, belly to undertail-coverts white; iris dark brown; bill black; legs dark slate-grey to black. Female is like male but more uniformly slate-grey on upperparts. Juvenile is like female but duller, with sooty-brown head and wings, prominent yellowish-grey gape, paler slate-grey legs. Race <em>subcaerulea</em> is slightly paler than nominate and more heavily bluish-grey on upperparts; swynnertoni is smaller than nominate, blacker on mantle and back, paler grey on cheeks and throat, and has less white at tips of tail.

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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.

Song  a rather weak and unstructured jumble of sweet and buzzy notes interspersed with harsher trills or occasionally mimicry of other birds (especially of congeners), “swit-chip-sweep-tak-weechit-bzeet-weed rowee-trrr”, in Zimbabwe a richer or more melodious rising and falling “tilip-tulweet-tulweet-taytaytaytay-tiplu-tiplu-pli-piptuweetiti-wee-taktak-uipteewee-uipteeweet”. Contact call , frequently given, a sharp “zitt”; also has rapid “weet-weet-weet” together with ratchet-like “ptititititi” trill; alarm several harsh “zitt” notes followed by a chatter.

Season May, Sept, Nov and Dec (breeding-condition males) in DRCongo, Sept in Uganda, Aug (breeding-condition male) in Burundi, Sept–Dec (most at start of period) in Malawi, Nov in Zambia, Oct–Jan in Zimbabwe and Nov in Mozambique. Monogamous; territorial. Male displays to female with tail raised and wings drooped; female begs food from and is fed by male at start of breeding season. Nest  a small, neat cup of woven green moss, lichens and gossamer, occasionally with other fine plant fibres and pine needles, placed up to 6·5 m (mostly c. 2 m) from ground in fork of vertical branch in shrub or sapling (in Zimbabwe, favours Peddiea africana and Xymalos monospora); territory c. 1·5 ha. Clutch 2 eggs, oval and glossy white or buffish-cream, spotted or blotched with brown, olive or greyish-lilac; incubation by female alone, fed at nest by male, period c. 15–16 days; no information on fledging period.