View source for White-bellied blue flycatcher

{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2020}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = White-bellied blue flycatcher
| image = White-bellied blue flycatcher male, Ganeshgudi, India.jpg
| image_caption = Male at a bird bath ([[Dandeli]], India)<br />[[File:White bellied blue flycatcher.ogg|thumb|Call]]
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2017 |title=''Cyornis pallidipes'' |volume=2017 |page=e.T22709519A111056465 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22709519A111056465.en |access-date=13 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Cyornis
| species = pallidipes
| authority = ([[Thomas C. Jerdon|Jerdon]], 1840)
| synonyms = ''Cyornis pallipes''<br/>''Muscicapula pallipes''
}}
The '''white-bellied blue flycatcher''' ('''''Cyornis pallidipes''''') is a small [[passerine]] [[bird]] in the [[Old World flycatcher|flycatcher]] family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to the [[Western Ghats]] (including the Nilgiris) of southwest [[India]]. Males are dark blue with a lighter shade of blue on the brow and have a greyish white belly. Females have a rufous breast, a white face and olive grey above.
==Description==
[[File:White-bellied blue flycatcher female, Ganeshgudi, Karnataka, India.jpg|left|thumb|Female]]
This flycatcher is about {{convert|13|cm|in}} long and has a longish beak. It forages in the undergrowth in the shade of dense forest canopy where it makes aerial forays to capture insects. The male is indigo blue with ultramarine blue supercilium and forehead. The lores and face are dark grey. The belly is white and bordered by smoky grey wash. The female is olive brown above with whitish lores. The rufous throat and breast fades to white towards the belly. The female has a chestnut tail and can be told apart from other flycatchers like by the lack of the black and white tail pattern. In poor lighting and within the Palni Hills it can be confusable with the [[white-bellied blue robin]], which however has longer legs and is more likely to be seen on the ground.<ref name=pcr>{{cite book|author1=Rasmussen PC  |author2=JC Anderton |name-list-style=amp | year=2005| title=Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Volume 2|page=384| publisher=Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions}}</ref><ref name=hbk/><ref>{{cite book|page=22|url= https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8454841|title=The Fauna of British India. Birds. Volume 2|author=Oates, EW| year=1890| publisher=Taylor and Francis| place=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Baker, ECS| year=1924| title=The Fauna of British India. Birds. Volume 2|edition=2nd| publisher=Taylor and Francis| place=London| pages=228–229|url=https://archive.org/stream/BakerFbiBirds2/bakerFBI2#page/n258/mode/1up}}</ref>
==Distribution ==
[[File:White-bellied blue flycatcher OMH.jpg|thumb|The white-bellied blue flycatcher male after a dip in water at [[Ganeshgudi]], [[Dandeli]]]]
The white-bellied blue flycatcher occurs in dense forest and sholas south from Mahabaleshwar<ref>{{cite journal|author=Ali, Salim| year=1951| title=Extension of range of the White-bellied Blue Flycatcher (''Muscicapula pallipes pallipes'' Jerdon)| journal= J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. | volume=49| issue=4| page=785|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48182349}}</ref> through the Western Ghats, extending into the Nilgiris and the Biligirirangan Hills,<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Srinivasan, U.  |author2=Prashanth, N.S.  |name-list-style=amp |year=2006| title=Preferential routes of bird dispersal to the Western Ghats in India: An explanation for the avifaunal peculiarities of the Biligirirangan Hills| journal= Indian Birds | volume=2 | issue=4| pages=114–119|url=http://www.indianbirds.in/pdfs/Preferential%20routes%20of%20bird%20dispersal%20to%20the%20Western%20Ghats%20in%20India.pdf}}</ref> down to southern Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It is found mainly in the hill forests from the foothills to about 1700 m in the Nilgiris.<ref name=hbk>{{cite book|author1=Ali, S  |author2=S D Ripley |name-list-style=amp | title=Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. Volume 7|edition=2nd| pages=183–184|year=1996| publisher=Oxford University Press| place= New Delhi}}</ref>
==Behaviour and ecology==
The white-bellied blue flycatcher tends to be quiet and inactive, foraging mainly in the dark shade below the forest canopy.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Shankar Raman |author2=T. R. |year=2003| title= Assessment of census techniques for interspecific comparisons of tropical rainforest bird densities: a field evaluation in the Western Ghats, India| volume=145| pages=9–21| doi=10.1046/j.1474-919X.2003.00105.x|journal=Ibis}}</ref> They have a very low song that can be heard only at close quarters. The song is a rambling series of rising and falling broken notes interspersed with clicks and squeaks. They are usually seen singly or in pairs and are often found to join [[mixed-species foraging flock]]s.<ref name=hbk/>
The breeding season is from February to September, mainly during the monsoon. The nest is a rough cup of moss neatly lined on the inside and placed low on a moss covered rock, hole in tree or mud-bank. The usual clutch is four eggs which are pale sea-green with brown spotting, denser on the broad end.<ref name=hbk/>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q1315517|from2=Q55115577}}
[[Category:Cyornis|white-bellied blue flycatcher]]
[[Category:Endemic birds of India]]
[[Category:Birds of South India]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1840|white-bellied blue flycatcher]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Thomas C. Jerdon|white-bellied blue flycatcher]]