White-bellied Blue Flycatcher

White-bellied Blue Flycatcher
: Animalia : Chordata : Aves : Passeriformes : Muscicapidae : Cyornis : pallipes
Binomial name
Cyornis pallipes (Jerdon, 1840)

The White-bellied Blue Flycatcher, Cyornis pallipes, is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae.

This is an insectivorous species which breeds in the Western Ghats of southwest India.

The White-bellied Blue Flycatcher breeds in forest undergrowth and ravines. It nests on a rock ledge and lays four eggs.

The White-bellied Blue Flycatcher is 15cm long. It is an upright long-tailed flycatcher. The male has bright blue upperparts, head and breast, and the rest of the underparts are white.

Females are completely different, with brown upperparts, a grey head and red breast. The rest of their underparts are white.

Juvenile birds have brown upperparts, scaly on the head and breast, with just the belly being whitish.

Reference

• Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6