Black and orange flycatcher
From Wild India
Scientific Name : Ficedula nigrorufa
It's also called the Black and Rufous Flycatcher
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Photograph
(Copyright: Martin Clement)
Identification
Black and Orange Flycatcher is about the size of a sparrow (11cm). Female similar to male, but with the orange paler and the head less black.
Call
A high-pitched soft chee-ri-ri-ri and tui-tui-tui with variations. Song(male), a soft whistling whi-chree-ree-rirr.
Distribution
The Black and Orange Flycatcher is an endemic resident in the Western Ghats of southern India, where it is locally common from 700 m to the highest summits. It inhabits shola forests with dense undergrowth and plenty of leaf-litter, cardamom and coffee plantations, in dank ravines.
It is restricted to Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. This bird is most easily spotted at Ooty, Tamil Nadu.
Status
While its range is small, its tolerance for modified habitats suggests that it is not immediately threatened.
However, an increasing human population has led to increased illegal encroachment into Western Ghat forests, livestock grazing and the harvesting of fuelwood and huge quantities of forest products such as bamboo and canes. Furthermore, hydropower development and road-building are causing reductions in forest cover in some areas. These factors require monitoring as, left uncontrolled, they will threaten the area's endemic avifauna.
