Scientific name: Ficedula hypoleuca (Pallas, 1764)
Bird group: Flycatchers
Field characters. 12.5 cm. Male in summer with black head and upperparts; forehead, underparts, wing bar and sides of tail white; autumn plumage as in female, but forehead remains whitish. Female with upperparts olive-brown and underparts isabelline white, but with narrower white wing-bar. Juvenile differs from juvenile Spotted Flycatcher by white on wings and tail. Males in the northern part of region are black and white, but more southern males resemble females, except for white forehead, and black rump, tail and wing. Catches insects like Spotted Flycatcher, but seldom returns to the same twig; often feeds on the ground. Frequently moves tail up and down and flicks wings, especially on settling. Nests in holes of trees, walls or buildings, and in nest-boxes.
Voice. Notes a sharp "whit", and a shorter repeated "tic", sometimes combined. Alarm-note is usually "phweet". Song based on two notes of different pitch "wuudjeeh wuudjeeh", sometimes mixed with trilling notes and sometimes ending in a melodious, rising phrase.
Distribution. Fairly common breeding bird in south-west, central and northern Europe.
Habitat. Usually mixed forest, gardens, and orchards.
Food. Mainly insect which are caught in typical Flycatcher manner; occasionally takes worms.