The Marico Flycatcher is near endemic to southern Africa, ranging from southern Angola and Zambia to Namibia, Botswana, northern South Africa and southern Mozambique.
Appearance: Male and female birds are alike with a distinctive dusty brown upper body and almost white underparts. Juveniles have buff upper parts with off-white streaked with brown underneath.
Size: The bird is 18cm long and weighs about 24g.
Habitat: Marico Flycatchers are usually found in arid acacia savannah or mixed woodland if it has acacia trees. During winter it prefers more open terrain while some migration to shadier areas occurs in the summer.
Feeding Habits: This bird is often seen perched on the outer branches of shrubs or fence posts looking for termites, caterpillars and grasshoppers. It occasionally hawks insects from the air.
Call: The call is monotonous consisting of harsh sparrow like chirps, sounds like “chew week”.
Breeding: Marico flycatchers build their nests from dry grass and weed stems lined with rootlets and feathers. These small flimsy cup-shaped constructions are usually placed between the forked twigs of an acacia trees outer branches. Eggs are laid year-round and incubated by the female. The male and sometimes other group members help to feed the chicks.
Diederick’s cuckoo is known to parasitize the Marico flycatcher.
