Leaden Flycatcher

1. Males have a convex (smile-shaped) border where the blue-grey breast meets the white belly.

2. Females show orange-buff on the throat and breast, unlike the males’ all-blue-grey upperparts.

3. Both sexes often quiver their tails while perched, a helpful behavioural clue

These birds feed mainly on flying insects, which they catch in mid-air after sallying from a perch. The breeding season is from September to March in the south, with nests built as small, neat cups of bark and grass, bound with spider webs and decorated with lichen. Nests are usually placed on slender branches well away from the trunk. Both parents share incubation and chick-rearing duties, though the female may incubate more at night. The species is sometimes parasitized by the brush cuckoo and has a relatively low nesting success rate.

Leaden Flycatchers inhabit a range of wooded environments, including eucalypt woodlands, open forests, rainforest edges, and mangroves. They are most common in northern and eastern Australia, from northwestern Australia across the Top End and down the east coast to central-southern Victoria. In southern regions, they are migratory-arriving in spring to breed and departing northward for winter. In northern Australia, they may be resident year-round. They are often seen perching high in the canopy and are especially active at dawn and early morning