Verditer Flycatcher in Landour, as seen from our dining room window!
This Verditer Flycatcher, most commonly seen in the middle Himalaya, was spotted in Landour, Mussoorie. The bird keeps lifting its tail up and down to balance itself on the branch, in windy conditions. Hopping from branch to branch with a ladybird in its mouth, this Verditer is waiting for an opportunity to feed its chicks in a nest cavity nearby.
The Verditer Flycatcher (Eumyias thalassinus) is an Old World flycatcher found in the Indian subcontinent, especially in the Lower Himalaya. It is named after its distinctive shade of copper-sulphate blue and has a dark patch between the eyes and above the bill base. The adult males are intense blue on all areas of the body, except for the black eye-patch and grey vent. Adult females and sub-adults are lighter blue. They are also interesting among the flycatchers in that they forage above the canopy level and perching on electric wires or exposed tree top branches.
This species was earlier placed in the genus Muscicapa and it has been suggested that it is closer to the Niltava flycatchers.
Source - Wikipedia
This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of tens of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM / SR 1080i High Definition, Alexa, SR, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Reach us at rupindang @ gmail . com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com.
