Spotted Flycatcher

This slim, understated songbird favours open woodland edges, orchards, and gardens with scattered perches across Europe, western Asia, and Africa in winter, where it sallies out from an exposed twig to snatch flying insects and returns to the same spot. Its upright posture and habit of returning repeatedly to a favoured perch make it one of the easier flycatchers to watch closely once located. It arrives late in spring compared to most migrants, so early summer is the best time to find breeding birds on their territories.