
Photo: (c) Zinogre, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ficedula elisae
Rare visitor: recorded only occasionally in this country
The green-backed flycatcher (Ficedula elisae) is a bird in the family Muscicapidae, which contains the Old World flycatchers. It was long considered to be a subspecies of the narcissus flycatcher, but morphological and acoustical differences between the two indicate they are instead separate species. It breeds in northeastern China and winters in southeast Asia. "F. beijingnica", proposed as a separate species called Beijing flycatcher or Peking flycatcher, is now considered by experts to be the first-summer male of this species and thus no longer a valid taxon. (Wikipedia, general species account).
Old World flycatchers typically watch from a perch, taking insects in short aerial sallies or gleaning prey from foliage and the ground. Many Asian species show strong differences between male and female plumage, while migrants may use different habitats seasonally. These are family-level ecological notes; the species account above remains the basis for identification and distribution (general Muscicapidae ecology). Regional observations can refine these broad expectations.