Scientific Name: Muscicapa dauurica
IUCN Status: Least Concern
Asian Brown Flycatcher is a migrant bird in Sri Lanka that can be found to inhabit a large range, from as upnorth as Siberia to as deep as the lowermost Indonesian islands, while the longitudinal span encompasses a broad coverage from Pakistan to Eastern parts of Japan and Russia. While favoring broad-leaved forests, the Asian Brown Flycatcher accommodates open plains and grassier habitats upon migration.
Asian Brown Flycatcher is a conspicuous bird with a large eye that is disproportionately larger in size compared to its body size. The plumage of the Asian Brown Flycatcher is brown, with the throat and underparts showcasing lighter coloration than the upper parts. A white-hued eye ring is also an eye-catching feature of the Asian Brown Flycatcher. The bill of the Asian Brown Flycatcher too is prominent and black with a tinge of pale yellow in the more proximal parts of the lower mandible.
Known for sallies from open perches, the Asian Brown Flycatcher is known to lifts its tail and flick wings as perching behavior. The song of the Asian Brown Flycatcher is composed of buzzy trilling and whistles. The Asian Brown Flycatcher is insectivorous and therefore is classified under the flycatcher family, Muscicapidae, of which the etymology is derived from “catching flies”.
There are arguments presented that the type of Asian Brown Flycatcher in South Asia is a separate subspecies, poonensis, that has subtle morphological variations – such as a lesser evident “white spectacle” around the well-rounded and comparably colossal eye – to the more dominantly distributed “more-northern” subspecies.
References:
Perched Poems: Avifauna in Sri Lanka 