Birds Around Us: Grey-Headed Canary Flycatcher

Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher perched on a branch

The Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher or the Culicicapa ceylonensis has a grey slightly peaked head shape and a narrow white eye-ring and yellow underparts. Its habitat is mainly forested woodlands and is often seen foraging in mixed-species flock.

I observed it in Delhi in January 2025 in a mixed flock that along with Indian white-eye, Hume's Warbler, Common Tailorbird at the Sunder Nursery in Delhi which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in New Delhi that was renovated by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.

The Grey-headed canary flycatcher is a common winter visitor that migrates every year along with other species to escape the harsh winter of the upper Himalayas during the non-breeding season from September to March. This bird does not show sexual dimorphism, meaning, that both sexes look alike. Females are smaller than males.

Bill looks like an equilateral triangle that is broader at the base with long rictal bristles for catching insects midair.

The Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher is very rare in the President’s Estate in New Delhi. Only two birds were spotted during the one-year survey within the Estate.

• See Source

It has a swift agile flight, often seen flitting about as it forages. Its diet includes gnats and mosquitoes, flies, also beetles, wasps, moths and other small invertebrates.

It is a resident bird in the foothils of Himalayas and a Short-distance altitudinal migrant that descends from Himalayas to plains of North & Central India between September and early March. It breeds from late February to July and forms long lasting monogamous bonds.

Refences

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32202663/#:~:text=Rictal%20bristles%20occur%20along%20the,have%20a%20well%2Dcharacterised%20anatomy.

2. https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/gyhcaf1/cur/introduction

3. https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/bird-watch-tiny-grey-headed-canary-flycatcher-that-is-known-for-its-swift-movements-8428683/

4. https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/bird-watch-tiny-grey-headed-canary-flycatcher-that-is-known-for-its-swift-movements-8428683/