Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata

The Spotted Flycatcher, Muscicapa striata, is a slender and unassuming summer migrant belonging to the family Muscicapidae, arriving late from sub-Saharan Africa each May. Adults are plain grey-brown above with a finely streaked pale breast – modest in appearance, but wholly captivating in behaviour. It hunts with characteristic precision, sallying out from an exposed perch to take flying insects in the air before returning, often to exactly the same spot, in a fluid, looping flight. It favours open woodland, parkland, large gardens, and churchyards – particularly where mature trees provide elevated perches alongside open glades. The Spotted Flycatcher has undergone steep declines in Britain and is a Red List species, with deteriorating conditions along its migration route and on its African wintering grounds considered significant contributing factors. Image: © Анна Голубева (anna-solisia), iNaturalist.

Find out more: RSPB, Suffolk Wildlife Trust, iNaturalist