Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata)

Dear Readers, this is a bird that I only ever saw when I visited Dorset – the one in the photo above was photographed in St Andrews Churchyard, in Milborne St Andrew, when I was visiting the grave of my parents. It is such an ordinary-looking little bird, and yet its behaviour reminds me more of something that you might see in the Serengeti – the one in the photo above sat still, then flew up to catch an insect, then landed back on the same perch, over and over again. The bird is an aerial dancer, taut and quick and effortless. And although it probably belongs in the Little Brown Job category, there is a sheen of silver and a neatness about it that is a joy to see.

There was even one hawking for insects on one of the thatched roofs in the village.

There is a theory that the Spotted Flycatcher was once a victim of the cuckoo’s penchant for laying its eggs in other birds’ nests. However, these days, Spotted Flycatchers have an excellent, and unusual, ability to distinguish their own eggs from those of the intruder, evicting any eggs that don’t look ‘right’. Unfortunately many other birds haven’t yet learned this trick – while warblers of various kinds often fall victim to the cuckoo’s deception, the poor old Dunnock is apparently a recent unwilling host, and can’t tell the difference between its own eggs and those of the cuckoo. What an interesting evolutionary arms race this is!

Juvenile Spotted Flycatcher (Photo By Hans G. Oberlack – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20376049)

Spotted Flycatchers spend the winter in southern Africa (sometimes as far south as Namibia) and then travel to Europe and the UK in May to breed, though their numbers are down a shocking 93% since 1967. Why this fall is quite so drastic is unclear, though the clue might be in the bird’s name – a species so dependent on insect prey will have been hit by the falling number of insects. It feels as if an ecosystem is like Jenga – pull out one key ‘stick’ and the whole edifice falls down.

A number of conservation efforts have taken place, from the removal of nest predators in a forest to the reforesting/deforesting of nesting areas. Another interesting study has shown that providing sources of calcium in the form of crushed snail shells and eggshells helps the females to lay larger eggs and bigger clutches, with more of the chicks surviving . I wonder why the birds are not finding calcium naturally, and also whether this could be a factor in the decline of other species? Nest boxes (especially nice new clean ones) have also proven to be a hit. So, all is not lost, though sometimes it might feel as if species are disappearing like sand running through our fingers.

And here are two Spotted Flycatchers chatting away in the Kruger National Park. It’s not a very melodious song (to my ears anyway), but there’s something companionable about it that I rather like. Let’s hope we’ll be hearing more of them soon.