Asian Brown Flycatcher
Muscicapa dauurica Pallas, 1811
Photo © Antony Grossy, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
STATUS
Eurasia and the Oriental Region. Polytypic.
OVERVIEW
Species not admitted nationally during the period covered (BOU 1971).
NOT PROVEN
0). 1909 Kent Near Lydd, adult male, obtained, 21st May.
(W. R. Ogilvie-Grant, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 23: 93; M. J. Nicoll, British Birds 3: 112-113, photo; E. N. Bloomfield, Hastings & East Sussex Naturalist 1: 206, 207; Ticehurst, 1909).
[E. M. Nicholson & I. J. Ferguson-Lees, British Birds 55: 299-384 HR].
History W. R. Ogilvie-Grant, Editor (1909) in the Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, Vol. XXIII. p. 93, at the 151st Meeting of the Club held on 26th May 1909 at Pagani's Restaurant, London, says: 'Mr. M. J. Nicoll exhibited British-killed examples of the following species: - The Brown Flycatcher. A male specimen shot near Lydd in Kent on the 21st of May, 1909. This bird, the first British example, was brought to Mr. Bristow of St. Leonards, and was examined in the flesh by Mr. J. H. Bonhote and Dr. N. F. Ticehurst.'
M. J. Nicoll (1909) in British Birds, Vol. III. pp. 112-113, says: 'At the meeting of the British Ornithologists' Club held on May 26th, 1909, I exhibited an adult male of the Brown Flycatcher (Muscicapa latirostris, Raffles) which had been shot near Lydd, close to the borders of Kent and Sussex on May 21st, 1909. It was examined in the flesh by Mr. J. L. Bonhote and Dr. N. F. Ticehurst. In appearance this bird somewhat resembles an immature Pied Flycatcher, but lacks the white on the wings and tail. The bill, moreover, is slightly wider at the gape than that of M. atricapilla. Not only is this Flycatcher new to the British list, but this is the first occurrence of the bird in Europe, and it has never before been recorded as occurring west of Chamba, Kashmir. It is unlikely, for many reasons, that this example escaped from confinement, and an "assisted" passage - an easy way out of a difficulty - is not to be thought of in this instance.
The summer range of the Brown Flycatcher, as given by Dr. E. Hartert (Vog. Pal. Fauna, IV. p. 477), is East Siberia to the Baikal Sea, Korea and North China, the Himalayas westwards to Chamba. Its winter range, however, extending to India, Ceylon, Malacca, Andamans, Hainan, South China, etc., gives us a clue, I think, to its appearance on our shores. The bird would meet during the winter such species as Phylloscopus superciliosus, and it seems quite possible that the example under discussion came westwards in company with some such species as the Yellow-browed Warbler, which, although of rare occurrence in Western Europe in spring, has been recorded at that season from Heligoland, and once just lately from Scotland.'
[Japan must, however, be added to the breeding range of this species (cf. Seebohm, Birds Jap. Emp., p. 62; C. Ingram, Ibis, 1908, p. 140). Apparently it also nests in India (cf. Stuart-Baker, Ibis, 1906, p. 277). - F.C.R.J.]
E. N. Bloomfield (1909) in the Hastings & East Sussex Naturalist, Vol. I. pp. 206, 207, says: 'We are again indebted to Dr. N. F. Ticehurst for a long list of rare birds which have occurred in our own and neighbouring districts, to which Mr. Butterfield has made some good additions. In neighbouring districts - Muscicapa latirostris, Raffles, Brown Flycatcher, near Lydd, adult male, May 21st, 1909, first British example.'
Accepted locally (Ticehurst 1909: 556).
Comment Hastings rarity. Not acceptable.
0). 1956 Northumberland Holy Island, 9th September.
(J. Alder, British Birds 50: 125-126; G. W. Temperley, Transactions of the Northumberland, Durham and Newcastle-upon-Tyne Natural History Society 12: 61).
[Not in BOU, 1971].
History J. Alder (1957) in British Birds, Vol. L. pp. 125-126, says: 'On 9th September 1956, T. H. Alder, A. Blackett, J. Bryce, A. Childs, B. Little, W. D. Ryder and the writer were walking through a large hollow among the sand dunes on the eastern shore of Holy Island, Northumberland, when T.H.A. spotted a plain little bird sheltering in a small solitary eider bush. He drew our attention to this immediately, but I had only time to focus my glasses on it for a second before it disappeared into the thickest part of the bush. This quick glimpse, however, was sufficient for me to note an exciting fact - that it had a white ring around its eye. I told the party of this Observation and B.L. suggested that it might be a Red-breasted Flycatcher (Muscicapa parva). We sat round the bush at varying distances from 10 to 30 feet, and waited for some minutes for the bird to show itself, but it remained hidden. I then crawled carefully on hands and knees to the bush and, lying below it, saw the bird at a range of 4-5 feet. It began to flit about in the bush, on one occasion being at arm's length, and the other observers now had excellent views of it and were impressed by the definite eye-ring. From my close viewpoint the following features impressed me, and these were noted and verified by the party. I judged the eye-ring to be off-white, not pure white. The bill was short and very broad at the base, appearing broader when seen from below .than from the side, and was black in colour except for a little dull yellowish-horn at the base of the lower mandible. Rictal bristles were prominent. The unstreaked head, mantle, back and wings were a smoky grey-brown, and the darker tail was sepia-brown without white markings of any kind. With the wing folded, the primary coverts seemed paler than the rest of the wing, which otherwise appeared quite uniform in colour. The chin was white with two or three very pale streaks at the sides and the breast pale grey-brown, very softly streaked, and tapering off beautifully to the white belly. The flanks were pale buff and the under tail-coverts pale buff to whitish; the legs appeared to be dark blue-grey and the feet blackish. When the bird became excited it flicked its wings and made a few typical flycatcher-like flights away from the bush, flitting in circles as if to look for other cover, but returning each time to the same bush. The general brown colour was then well noted, and it was suggested that the bird had the look of a small Garden Warbler (Sylvia borin). Except for a very faint hoarse and indefinable note which I heard when near the bush, the bird made no other sound. We sent for a net with the intention of catching it, but during that time the bird made a longer flight of about fifty yards to a second solitary bush, from which it flew to sea-weed-covered rocks, then inland where it was not Seen again.
From our notes made on the spot, we were sure that we had been watching a Brown Flycatcher (M. latirostris) and were delighted to find, on checking The Handbook shortly afterwards, that our notes agreed with this in all respects. This was one of three days on which a most interesting passage of birds occurred, when on the Island and the mainland near-by Wrynecks (Jynx torquilla), Barred Warblers (Sylvia nisoria), Red-backed Shrikes (Lanius collurio), a Red-breasted Flycatcher (M. parva) and a Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochrurus) were seen, while in the preceding week Pied Flycatchers (M. hypoleuca) had occurred in remarkable numbers on the Northumberland coast, perhaps reaching thousands.'
Comment BOURC stated that there were missing field characters. Not acceptable.
