Tickell's Blue Flycatcher

Tickell's blue flycatcher is a small flycatcher, 11–12cm long, that sits upright. The male is bright blue above with a rufous-red throat and breast and a white belly; the female is duller blue with a brighter blue brow, shoulder, rump and tail. Juveniles are streaked and scaly brown, with only the wings and tail blue. It hybridises with the pale-chinned blue flycatcher where they meet, and populations vary in plumage and size. It is named after the wife of the ornithologist Samuel Tickell (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in dry forest, scrub, bamboo and gardens and forages mainly in the undergrowth, catching flying insects and sometimes picking up crawling ones; it has been known to feed even after dusk. It has a metallic song. The Indochinese blue flycatcher was formerly included in this species. SoIB 2023 treats it as endemic to the Indian subcontinent and resident with a large range, finds its trends uncertain, and rates it a Low conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).