Whether you’re birding in a tamarisk grove in the Negev highlands or on a coastal headland overlooking the North Sea, a soft Wren-like rattle and a quiet tongue clicking ‘tek’ piercing the early morning mist is often the first indication of a newly arrived Red-breasted Flycatcher. This beautiful little flycatcher with its ‘wheatear-like’ tail pattern is a rather scarce passage migrant in Israel, mostly in the latter part of the autumn with a handful also recorded in spring.

From late September through to early December newly arrived Red-breasted Flycatchers can be found at desert oases such as Sde Boker, Mizpe Ramon and Lotan where vegetation is relatively lush and abundant. They can also be found in areas of Acacia park-forest such as those at Hazeva and Yotvata. Careful observation of a local patch is often the best way of finding this smart species and Amit Geffen, with his careful patch work at Sde Boker, has uncovered more than his fair share this autumn! Amit was lucky enough to detect a small passage of Red-breasted Flycatchers at Ben Gurion College, Sde Boker with up to three present in late October.

His notes recorded the following; 22.10.03- 1 at the desert research center 23.10.03- 1 at the Caravan neighborhood 26.10.03- 2 new individuals, one at the Lego neighborhood and one at the desert research center, with the individual from the 23rd still present, bringing today’s total to 3 birds. 4.11.03 - 1, present through to 6th. 15.11.03 - 1, present on 16th as well. All were female / 1st winter birds. An excellent tally of six individuals for the season, rather more than we’d expect in a season at Lotan.

During the autumn Red-breasted Flycatcher is often the harbinger of rarer species from the east, and I’ve found national rarities feeding in close proximity to the flycatchers on several occasions. For example, on 21st October 1996 there were no less than three Red-breasted Flycatchers at Ha-ruhot sewage ponds near Mizpe Ramon, including an adult male. Only metres from these birds was a beautiful first-winter Pied Wheatear. On 4th November 1997, while leading a birding group at Kibbutz Lotan, we discovered Israel’s 4th Pied Stonechat (a female) just minutes after finding a Red-breasted Flycatcher in the Kibbutz gardens. And, on 26th November 2002 after being drawn to the calls of a Red-breasted Flycatcher in the gardens of Kibbutz Ketura, I discovered a Hume’s Warbler feeding close-by which remained in the area for two weeks after its discovery and was seen by many.

Red-breasted Flycatcher breeds from eastern Germany, north to southern Finland and east to the Ural Mountains with fragmented populations in Sweden, western Germany, the Balkans and the Caucasus. The vast majority of birds migrate south-eastwards to winter in India and South-East Asia.

Click on a picture to enlarge (+)
A (adult male - Goa)	B (1st summer - Finland)	C (1st summer - Finland)
D (female or male, 1st summer)	E (f or m, 1st summer, Israel)	F (1st winter, Hazeva, Israel)

The above images show four main plumage types: adult male, first-summer male, 1st- winter, and female/1st summer male;

A - adult male photographed by Vernon Lundy in Goa, India, January 2002. Full males are both beautiful and unmistakable with deep grey head, orange-red throat and upper breast, and crisp clean white underparts.

B - 1st summer male in song, Viiki, Helsinki, Finland, 26th May 2003. This bird was located by its song and found by Petro Pynnönen near his home in Helsinki. Males in their first spring show no red at all on the throat or grey on the head, and only begin to show faint orange on the throat by their second spring.

C - 1st summer male, Finland. 26th May 2003. Same bird as photo B. When not singing, males like this cannot be reliably separated from females on plumage alone. Also note that the pale-buff tips to the greater coverts (from the first-winter) have worn away.

D - female or 1st summer male, Neot Semadar, Israel. 5th May 2003. Spring migrants are few in southern Israel.

E - female or 1st summer male, Neot Semadar, Israel. 5th May 2003. Same bird as photo D.

F - 1st winter, Hazeva, Israel. 7th November 2002. Although not the greatest shot, it’s just possible to make out the pale-buff tips to the greater coverts on this bird, indicating first-winter plumage. Found in Acacia park-forest, this bird made use of a coil of barbed wire while watching for insects.

Enjoy!

Good birding,

James P. Smith and the Birdingisrael Team