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Jeff Wendorff's photography portfolio of Old World Flycatchers in the family, Muscicapidae.

Muscicapidae Wiki
The Old World flycatchers are a large family, the Muscicapidae, of small passerine birds mostly restricted to the Old World (Europe, Africa, and Asia). These are mainly small arboreal insectivores, many of which, as the name implies, take their prey on the wing. The family includes 324 species in 51 genera.

The appearance of these birds is very varied, but they mostly have weak songs and harsh calls. They are small to medium birds, ranging from 9 to 22 cm in length. Many species are dull brown in color, but the plumage of some can be much brighter, especially in the males. Most have broad, flattened bills suited to catching insects in flight, although the few ground-foraging species typically have finer bills.

Old World flycatchers live in almost every environment with a suitable supply of trees, from dense forest to open scrub and even the montane woodland of the Himalayas. The more northerly species migrate south in winter, ensuring a continuous diet of insects.

Depending on the species, their nests are either well-constructed cups placed in a tree or cliff ledge or simply lining in a pre-existing tree hole. The hole-nesting species tend to lay larger clutches, with an average of eight eggs, rather than just two to five.

Old World Flycatchers Photographed
African Stonechat, Saxicola torquatus
Ant-eating Chat, Myrmecocichla formicivora
Kalahari Scrub Robin, Erythropygia paena
Mountain Wheatear, Myrmecocichla monticola
Sooty Chat, Myrmecocichla nigra
White-eyed Slaty-flycatcher, Melaenornis fischeri
Pied Bushchat Saxicola caprata

Collective Noun Old World Flycatchers
Faithful readers will know there are several collective nouns for a group of flycatcher: a "confusion," an "outfield," a "swatting," or a "zapper."
There also does not appear to be a collective noun for the Stonechats, so I've named them a Tonne.

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