Julie - In my opinion it could be a Satin Flycatcher. The call would be a useful guide, but I do not think it is possible to say from this photo where the
light setting is not helpful. Changing the lightening or contrast in processing an image can transform one apparent species into another.
On the general question, we have been here are few times and there is a useful article by Graeme Chapman in an old Wingspan, and much in the archive. The species
are often confused. In the field in good light a male Satin Flycatcher is unmistakeably a BLACK and white bird, like a Willie Wagtail. The black is like a Satin Bowerbird, and not just ‘darker grey’. Satin Flycatchers are more common in the denser veg of
the ranges, but are sometimes seen in transit through the local woodlands, like Mulligans Flat. It is quite possible one could turn up there and the absence of one on a list is not determinative.
From: Julie Clark [
Sent: Thursday, 29 October 2015 9:07 PM
To: COG Chatline
Subject: [canberrabirds] Flycatcher at Mulligan's today
Alison and I visited Mulligan's Flat today to try our luck with the cuckoos reported there in recent days.
Our thanks to Jenny Bounds and Steve Holliday (on behalf of Jenny Newport - ANU) for reporting the Black-eared Cuckoo. We managed to find it and also Pallid Cuckoos and Horsfield's
Bronze-Cuckoos ... new birds for us!
While there we also saw the attached flycatcher. On listening to the app, we both thought that it was a Satin Flycatcher and the colour seemed much darker that I'd seen before on
Leaden Flycatchers. However, on checking the Mulligan's bird list, I noticed that the Satin Flycatcher wasn't listed.
Are we mistaken (nothing new there for me!) or could it have been a Satin Flycatcher??
Thanks once again for advice or information.
