Fiscal flycatcher

Fiscal flycatcher
Male and female
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Muscicapidae
Genus:	Sigelus Cabanis, 1850
Species:	S. silens
Binomial name
Sigelus silens (Shaw, 1809)
Synonyms
Melaenornis silens

The fiscal flycatcher (Sigelus silens) is a small

This black and white bird gets its name from its resemblance to the northern and southern fiscal shrikes (previously considered one species, common fiscal), shrikes that in turn get the name from their black and white suit-and-tie appearance reminiscent of the taxman (‘fiscal’).^[4] The male may be confused with the fiscal shrikes, but the shrikes have heavy, hooked bills, white patches on the shoulder rather than the lower wing, and no white on their longer tails. The resemblance is assumed to be an example of Batesian mimicry.^[5]

The fiscal flycatcher is 17–20 cm in length. The adult male is black above and white below with white wing patches and white sides to the tail. The female is brown above, somewhat like an immature fiscal shrike, not black. The juvenile is like the female but duller and with brown spots and scalloping above and below.

The song is a weak chittering, and the alarm call is tssisk.

The fiscal flycatcher is larger than the male collared flycatcher, which has a white collar and lacks white wing panels.

Behaviour

The fiscal flycatcher builds an open-cup nest from thin stems and other plant material, and lined with plant down. It is placed in a dense bush or thicket in a tree. In these respects it resembles the fiscal shrike.^[6]

The fiscal flycatcher feeds on insects, often taken in flight, but also on non-flying prey such as caterpillars. It may prey on the spiny caterpillars or "woolly worms" of