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Flycatcher 28/30 - Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher (lifer 523)

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Brown-chested  Jungle Flycatcher is a passage migrant passing thru Peninsula Malaysia. We chance on a beautiful specimen here in Johor.  It is seldom sighted up north or central peninsula as they do not stop for long period but continue moving south. So chances are better here down south nearer Singapore which is one of their last stops.

The bird has a yellowish lower mandible. Coming in at 16 cm;  it is one large flycatcher and it has the largest of a hooked tipped beak. I mistakenly id it as a babbler at first because of its beak but why is it so quiet. Then notice its "chit-chitting" call like many Fc. Will post it vocalizing later.  The throat is mottling/speckle white as compared to the resident Grey-chested Jungle Flycatcher which has a distinct white throat. 





They breed in the mountainous broadleaved forests of southern and central China (ie. Hunan, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guizhou). Brown-chested Jungle Flycatchers head south from August onwards, briefly passing through northern Vietnam. By mid-September, they would have reached Central Thailand, as confirmed by regular sightings around Bangkok. Thus sightings in Peninsula to Singapore are sighted from the last few days of September to early November and there are very few records of birds staying through winter.  

Their last stop is supposedly in Sumatera. Some like this one may stop and stay in Johor and/or cross the causeway or Malacca Straits.





Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher is rarely seen because it has forest dweller in dense patches of undergrowth in woodlands and forests, perching motionless on a low twig while watching the ground for grub and insect.  Many birdwatchers are thus likely to have walked past the flycatcher without realizing that it is there, just meters away in the bushes. 

Secondly, the brownish color tones of the Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher is well blended well with the background. See la pictures. It is usually a loner and to do not follow bird wave, unlike APFc.

Thirdly, not many people know the calls the Brown-chested Jungle-Flycatcher makes. Post later.








This bird should be on its way back to its breeding ground up north but I wonder as it is way past Spring now......maybe it has decided stay on until next year. 





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