Korean Flycatcher

About the Korean Flycatcher

The yellow-rumped flycatcher (Ficedula zanthopygia), also known as Korean flycatcher or tricolor flycatcher, is a species of flycatcher found in eastern Asia. A distinctive species with almost no look-alike other than the narcissus flycatcher. It breeds in eastern Asia including parts of Mongolia, Transbaikal, southern China, Korea and western Japan. They winter in parts of the Malay Peninsula and South Asia.

In all plumages the yellow rump is distinctive. The white supercilium of the male is distinctive, separating it from the narcissus flycatcher and the green-backed flycatcher. Females and first year males are olive grey above with blackish tail.

Hartert (1910) treated this species as a member of the narcissina group. Some individuals with yellow supercilium have been considered as hybrids with the narcissus flycatcher. Included in this species complex was the species called Elise's flycatcher, usually treated as a subspecies of the narcissus flycatcher. Both elisae and zanthopygia have been observed to breed separately in the same area of oak forest near Peking strengthening the case for their distinctness. There are also clear call and morphological differences... Wikipedia →