Most species of Flycatchers gather for food by aerial sallies or 'fly catching', some of them by flitting amongst the foliage or from the ground. A few flycatchers take small soft berries in addition to insects which are their staple diet. These birds do normally live in pairs; some are seen at times joining the mixed-species hunting flocks of insectivorous birds. Most of the flycatchers maintain a territory all the year round, while some maintain the territory mostly at the time of breeding season only. Some like the Black-and-Orange Flycatchers are highly parochial. Breeding activities start around the Month of March when the males sing and perform courtship displays, spectacular in some species like the ribbon-tailed Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradise). In many species the females alone build the nest; in others both sexes share all the breeding activities. The nests are normally placed on shrubby plants and trees; some in crevices or in banks of streams or under jutting rocks, etc. An open cup-shaped nest is the rule though some prefer holes or depressions in tree-trunks, rocks or walls of buildings. A few make globular nests with a side entrance. Much cobweb is usually employed in the open nests. The clutch-size varies between two and four eggs, exceptionally five or only one. Incubation and nest-feeding are either by the female alone or by both sexes equally. |