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Birds

Birds

Common name Spotted flycatcher
Scientific name Muscicapa striata
Type Forest birds
Status Summer

Small bird (approx 14 cm or 5.5 in), stylized and discreet. Greyish brown plumage on the back, lighter in the ventral area. It has a slight striated design on the head, throat and breast. Fine and long black bill, like the legs.

Habitats

Woodland environment

Where it lives

Not very dense groves with scrub, thickets and humidity. Forest edges, parks, gardens and urban environment.

How it lives

Summer species present in Malaga only during the breeding season. It spends the winter south of the Sahara. The breeding begins at the end of May making an annual laying of 4 to 6 eggs. Nest in cavities of trees, walls, and even roofs. Strict insectivore, especially flying insects. Berries in autumn. The Spotted Flycatcher presents a very typical and distinctive behaviour of the species that usually makes it visible. From a perch (or roosting ground) it makes short flights to catch flies or mosquitoes and always returns to the same perch

Where it can be seen in Malaga

Frequent and common bird in the province. It can be seen practically in all the Great Path.

Curious facts

The Spanish name for this bird is "papamoscas gris". Papar, according to the Royal Spanish Academy of Language, means to eat soft things without hardly chewing them. That is just what the Spotted Flycatcher does: capturing and swallowing the flies and mosquitoes in the places where it lives. According to certain popular sayings, domesticated flycatchers quickly clean the houses of flies.

Routes where it can be observed
Present
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Wintering Summer Resident Migration
Audios