Flycatchers & Chats (Muscicapidae)
Species
Members of this family are small to medium-sized birds, ranging from 10 to 21 cm in length. Many species are a dull brown in colour, but the plumage of some can be much brighter, especially in the males. Most have broad, flattened, bill, suited to catching insects in flight, although the few ground foraging species typically have finer bills. They live in almost every environment with a suitable supply of trees, from dense forest to open scrub, and even the woodland of the Himalayas. The more northerly species migrate south in winter, ensuring a continuous diet of insects.
 
The family includes 324 species and is divided into 51 genera. There are twenty-six species in Europe.
 
Species seen but not photographed:
  • Black Wheatear : Spain (November 2016)
  • Black-eared Wheatear : Bulgaria (June 2014)
  • Isabelline Wheatear : Bulgaria (June 2014)
  • Nightingale : Croatia (June 2017)
  • Tenerife Robin : Tenerife (March 2009)