Kingdom Animalia Genus Melaenornis Phylum Chordata Rank Species | Family Muscicapidae Scientific name Melaenornis edolioides Higher classification Melaenornis Order Passerine | |
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Similar Old World flycatcher, Bird, Melaenornis, Abyssinian Slaty Flycatcher, White‑eyed slaty flycatcher | ||
Northern black flycatcher 2
The northern black flycatcher (Melaenornis edolioides) is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family, Muscicapidae.
Contents
Northern black flycatcher
Range
This is an insectivorous species which is a resident breeder in tropical Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia and south to Zaire and Tanzania.
Habitat
The northern black flycatcher is found in moist wooded areas and cultivation. It nests in a hole or reuses the old nest of another species, and lays two or three eggs. Breeding takes place in the wet season.
Description
The northern black flycatcher is 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long. It is a large upright long-tailed flycatcher. The adult is uniformly black. Juveniles are blackish-brown with buff scaling.
The long square-ended tail helps to distinguish this species from two other all-black insectivores, the fork-tailed drongo and the shorter-tailed and red-eyed square-tailed drongo.
Song
This flycatcher has a simple musical song and a thin tsee-whee call.
