PAKHIDEKHOON PAKHI CHINOON… OBSERVE THE BIRDS AND RECOGNIZE… Bar-winged flycatcher-shrike

The bar-winged flycatcher-shrike (Hemipus picatus) is a small passerine bird formerly placed in the cuckooshrike family but probably closer to the woodshrikes. It is found in the forests of tropical southern Asia from the Himalayas and hills of the Indian subcontinent east toIndonesia. Mainly insectivorous it is found hunting in the mid-canopy of forests, often joining mixed-species foraging flocks. They perch upright and have a distinctive pattern of black and white, males being more shiny black than the females. In some populations the colour of the back is brownish while others have a dark wash on the underside.

The bar-winged flycatcher-shrike is black capped with black wings that contrast with the white of the body. A white slash across the wing and a white rump stand out in contrast. They sit upright on branches, flying around to glean insects. The nostril is hidden by hairs and the upper mandible of the beak has a curved tip. Males are velvety black while females tend to be greyish brown but the pattern varies across the geographic populations. Both males and females of the Himalayan H. p. capitalis have a brown back but the males have a black head.

The call is a rapid and high tsit-it-it-it or a whriri-whirriri-whirriri and sometimes a sharp chip.

This bird catches insects by gleaning foliage and making aerial sallies for flushed insects.

[info:wikipedia]