The black-banded flycatcher (''Ficedula timorensis''), also known as the Timor flycatcher, is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family

Muscicapidae The Old World flycatchers are a large family, the Muscicapidae, of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World (Europe, Africa and Asia), with the exception of several vagrants and two species, Bluethroat (''Luscinia svecica)'' and Norther ...

. In the past the species was considered to be related to the Australasian robins but this was as the result of

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...

island. The black-banded flycatcher is small with a broad bill and distinctive

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

. The species has a white belly, lower rump and throat with a thin black band across the chest. The tail, neck and wings are black and the back, upper wing and shoulders rich chestnut. The plumage of the head is

sexually dichromatic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most anim ...

, with the head being black in the males and dark grey in the females. The eye and bill is black and the feet and legs are yellow. The

calls Call or Calls may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Call, a type of betting in poker * Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage Music and dance * Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...

consist of soft whistles, some of which sound similar to the

Timor stubtail The Timor stubtail (''Urosphena subulata'') is a species of bird in the family Cettiidae. It is found on Timor and northern and eastern adjacent islands. References Timor stubtail Birds of Timor Timor stubtail The Timor stubtail (''Uro ...

. The black-banded flycatcher is an uncommon species that is difficult to see and very little is known about its biology. The natural habitat of the species is lowland monsoon forests and hill forests up to 1200 m. Nothing is known about its breeding behaviour, the only observations of this are adults feeding recently

fledge Fledging is the stage in a flying animal's life between hatching or birth and becoming capable of flight. This term is most frequently applied to birds, but is also used for bats. For altricial birds, those that spend more time in vulnerable c ...

d chicks in December. It feeds singly or in pairs on invertebrates, taking its prey mostly by gleaning with a few sallying flights to snatch aerial prey. The species is currently listed as near threatened. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q994417

black-banded flycatcher The black-banded flycatcher (''Ficedula timorensis''), also known as the Timor flycatcher, is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. In the past the species was considered to be related to the Australasian robins but this was as the resul ...

Birds of Timor

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot