Birds Around Us: Grey-Headed Canary Flycatcher
- Symrna Darkmorph
- Jan 6
- 1 min read
Updated: Mar 12
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.
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.
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.
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