Blue-and-white Flycatcher

This species is defined as a Review Species . Please submit your records of this species via our record submission page .

Scientific Name: Cyanoptila cyanomelana

Malay Name: Sambar-Berlau Rengkung Hitam

Chinese Name: 白腹蓝鹟

Range: Breeds from Korea to Japan and winters to Southeast Asia

Taxonomy: Polytypic. Subspecies are: intermedia, cyanomelana.

Local Subspecies: intermedia

Size: 18 cm

Identification: Male has cobalt-blue upperparts, blackish head-sides, throat and breast with rest of underparts whitish. Female has rather uniform brownish upperparts and breast with contrasting white belly and vent, whitish throat-patch and all black bill. First-winter male resembles female but has blue wings, tail and back to uppertail-coverts. Based on current knowledge, it is not possible to separate non-adult male from Zappey's Flycatcher in the field.

Similar looking species: Zappey's Flycatcher

Habitat: Forest, parks, gardens and wooded areas.

Behaviour/Ecology: Forages mainly at the mid-stratum and canopy levels for insects.

Local Status: Rare migrant

Conservation Status: Least Concern (BirdLife International 2017)

Featured reports: Mar 2022, Nov 2022, Mar 2023

Past records in our database:

Showing only accepted records. Records currently under review are also not displayed. For a full list, click here.

Migrant bar chart (see more bar charts):

Male Blue-and-white Flycatcher at Karuizawa Bird Sanctuary, Japan. Photo credit: Keita Sin
Blue-and-white Flycatcher at Singapore Botanic Gardens. Photo credit: Francis Yap
First-winter male Blue-and-white/Zappey’s Flycatcher at Dairy Farm Nature Park. Photo Credit: Alan Ng
Male Blue-and-white Flycatcher at Bukit Batok Nature Park. Photo Credit: Myron Tay
Male Blue-and-white Flycatcher at Karuizawa Bird Sanctuary, Japan. Photo credit: Keita Sin
Probable Female Blue-and-white Flycatcher at Tuas South. Photo Credit: See Toh Yew Wai
Probable Female Blue-and-white Flycatcher at Tuas South. Photo Credit: See Toh Yew Wai
Blue-and-white Flycatcher at Singapore Botanic Gardens. Photo credit: Francis Yap
External Links:

Conservation Status: IUCN Red List Page

Sound Recordings: xeno-canto Link

Wikipedia Entry: Wikipedia Link

eBird Species page: eBird (Blue-and-white Flycatcher)

References:

BirdLife International. (2017). Cyanoptila cyanomelana. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T103758039A111161222.en. Accessed on 1 January 2023

Robson, C. (2014). Field guide to the birds of South-East Asia (Second Edition). Bloomsbury Publishing, London.

Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula (Vol. 1). Academic Press, London.

RECOMMENDED CITATION

Singapore Birds Project. (n.d.). Blue-and-white Flycatcher. Retrieved on May 27, 2023 from https://singaporebirds.com/species/blue-and-white-flycatcher.