Humblot's flycatcher (''Humblotia flavirostris'') or the Grand Comoro flycatcher, is a small

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...

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 lightweig ...

belonging to the

Old World flycatcher 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 Northe ...

family. It is the only member of its genus. Humblot's flycatcher 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 else ...

to the island of Grand Comoro in the Comoros where it inhabits

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

on the slopes of

Mount Karthala Mount Karthala or Karthola ( ar, القرطالة ''Al Qirṭālah'') is an active volcano and the highest point of the Comoros at above sea level. It is the southernmost and larger of the two shield volcanoes forming Grande Comore island, the ...

. The scientific name commemorates the French naturalist Léon Humblot.

Description

The upperparts are grey-brown while the underparts are pale with dark streaks. It has a dark crown with pale streaks and the

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

and feet are yellow-orange. The bird is 14 cm long. It is often silent but has a soft trilling call. It differs from ''

Muscicapa ''Muscicapa'' is a genus of passerine birds belonging to the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, and therein to the typical flycatchers of subfamily Muscicapinae. They are widespread across Europe, Africa and Asia with most species occur ...

'' and other flycatchers in having plumage with a very soft and fluffy texture, and by having distinctive feathers on the crown that are a modification that represents the beginnings of the formation of a crest.

Ecology

Humblot's flycatcher feeds on

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

s which it catches by making short flights from a perch low in a

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

bush Bush commonly refers to: * Shrub, a small or medium woody plant Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name **Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: *** ...

. Often, it will feed in groups of two or three. Little is known about its breeding habits; the only known

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materi ...

was a cup built high in a tree which contained at least two young.

Status

Humblot's flycatcher has a very restricted range and is threatened because of

destruction Destruction may refer to: Concepts * Destruktion, a term from the philosophy of Martin Heidegger * Destructive narcissism, a pathological form of narcissism * Self-destructive behaviour, a widely used phrase that ''conceptualises'' certain kin ...

and degradation of the forest and the spread of

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

such as the strawberry guava (''Psidium cattleyanum''), which could overwhelm native species, the common myna (''Acridotheres tristis'') and rats which may raid the nests. The population of 10,000-19,000 individuals is decreasing and the species is classed by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

as vulnerable.

References

* BirdLife International (2006)
Species factsheet: Humblotia flavirostris
'. Downloaded from on 27/2/2007 *Ian Sinclair & Olivier Langrand (1998)
Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands
', Struik, Cape Town. * del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Christie D. (editors). (2006). '' Handbook of the Birds of the World''. Volume 11: Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers. Lynx Edicions. . {{Taxonbar, from=Q1587380 Humblot's flycatcher Endemic birds of the Comoros Grande Comore Humblot's flycatcher