Melaenornis chocolatinus
SUBFAMILY
Muscicapinae
TAXONOMY
Melaenornis chocolatina Rüppell, 1840.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Chocolate flycatcher; slaty flycatcher; French: Gobemouche chocolat; German: Habeschdrongoschnäpper; Spanish: Papamoscas Etíope.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
The body length is about 5.5 in (15 cm). The sexes are colored similarly, with a dark-brown back, grayer belly, light under the rump, and buff on breast.
DISTRIBUTION
An endemic (or local) species of the highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea.
HABITAT
Occurs in a range of types of humid, highland forest and woods and coffee plantations as high as 8,200 ft (2,500 m).
BEHAVIOR
A nonmigratory species. Pairs of breeding birds defend a territory. Sometimes wags its tail while perched. The song is a simple, high-pitched phrase of three or four notes.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Hunts from a perch in the forest canopy for flying insects.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Builds a cup-shaped nest at a narrow fork of a horizontal tree branch. Lays three blue-gray, blotched eggs.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened. A rare endemic species but locally abundant.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known, except for the economic benefits of birdwatching.
