Humblot's flycatcher

Humblot's flycatcher
File:Naturalis Biodiversity Center - RMNH.AVES.139388 1 - Humblotia flavirostris Milne-Edwards and Oustalet, 1885 - Muscicapidae - bird skin specimen.jpeg
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Muscicapidae
Genus:	Humblotia Milne-Edwards & Oustalet, 1885
Species:	H. flavirostris
Binomial name
Humblotia flavirostris Milne-Edwards & Oustalet, 1885

Humblot's flycatcher or the Grand Comoro flycatcher (Humblotia flavirostris) is a small passerine bird belonging to the Old World flycatcher family. It is the only member of the its genus. Humblot's flycatcher is endemic to the island of Grand Comoro in the Comoros where it inhabits forest on the slopes of Mount Karthala.

The upperparts are grey-brown while the underparts are pale with dark streaks. It has a dark crown with pale streaks and the bill and feet are yellow-orange. The bird is 14 cm long. It is often silent but has a soft trilling call.

It feeds on insects which it catches by making short flights from a perch low in a tree or bush. Often, it will feed in groups of two or three. Little is known about its breeding habits; the only known nest was a cup built high in a tree which contained at least two young.

It is threatened because of destruction and degradation of the forest and the spread of introduced species. The population of 10,000-19,000 individuals is decreasing and the species is classed as endangered.

The scientific name commemorates the French naturalist Léon Humblot.

References

• BirdLife International (2006) Species factsheet: Humblotia flavirostris. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 27/2/2007
• Ian Sinclair & Olivier Langrand (1998) Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands, Struik, Cape Town.
• del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Christie D. (editors). (2006). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 11: Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers. Lynx Edicions. ISBN 84-96553-06-X.