
Photo: Stephen Matthews · CC0
Cyanoptila cyanomelana
Rare visitor: recorded only occasionally in this country
Diet
Invertebrates (SoIB guild)
Habitat
Forest and plantation
Range
Breeds in Japan, Korea, parts of north-eastern China and the Russian Far East
Clutch size
4–6 eggs
Incubation period
14–15 days, by the female alone
Size
16–17cm
Weight
25g on average
The blue-and-white flycatcher, also known as the Japanese flycatcher, is a large flycatcher, 16–17 cm long and 25 g on average, with a striking plumage pattern. The male is deep cobalt blue with black on the face down to the upper breast and flanks, the rest of the underside white, and a prominent white patch at the base of the outer tail feathers; immature males have the adult male's blue wings but are otherwise brown like females. The female is smaller on average, with the head, face and most of the upperparts grey-brown and pale beige-white on the lower middle throat (Wikipedia, general species account).
It is a migratory songbird that breeds in Japan, Korea and parts of north-eastern China and the Russian Far East, the breeding season extending from late May to early August. The clutch is four to six eggs, incubated by the female alone for 14 to 15 days, and the song is a short, melancholic series of whistles. The cached account does not describe its Indian range. SoIB 2023 lists it as a winter migrant of forest and plantation that eats invertebrates, without a priority category (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).