Yellow Flycatchers | Erythrocercidae

Gele vliegenvangers | Papamoscas amarillos

A small African family of three species, all in the genus Erythrocercus; the region's representative is Livingstone's Flycatcher. They were long placed with the monarchs or the Old World flycatchers, until molecular studies showed them to be a separate branch within the warbler group. They are small, warbler-like birds with a fine bill and a fairly long tail, mainly olive-green and yellow, and some species have a rufous tail or cap. They are almost never still, constantly fanning and swinging the tail from side to side, probably to flush insects. Small insects and spiders are gleaned from leaves and twigs or snatched in short fluttering sallies. They live in the canopy and dense tangles of lowland and riverine forest and thicket, usually in small, restless, vocal parties that often join mixed-species flocks. The song is a rapid, high-pitched jumble of twitters and trills. The nest is a ball of moss and fibres with a side entrance, suspended from a twig.