The Red-breasted Flycatcher (Ficedula parva) is a small, eastern breeding bird that reaches its western outpost in Sweden, living unobtrusively in old-growth forest and prized by many birders. Its core range lies in central and eastern Europe, and it winters to the southeast in southern Asia; in Sweden it breeds sparsely, mainly in the northern regions and parts of eastern Svealand, with a population numbering only in the low hundreds of pairs. At only about 11 cm long it is smaller than the Pied Flycatcher. The male has a grey head — crown, nape, and neck sides — with a brown back and an orange-red throat patch, while the female and young birds are plainly brownish-grey without any red. In every plumage the white patches at the base of the tail sides are a very good field mark, especially visible when the bird fans and cocks its tail, a habit it repeats often.
The song is a clear, descending whistle, often rendered "sii-suu-sii-suu", which speeds into faster trills recalling a Chaffinch, while the call is a dry, rasping "chrr" reminiscent of a Wren. It is tied to older forest with plenty of deciduous trees, occurring patchily within its range; the population is small and thought to be slowly declining. The nest is placed in a cavity or a half-open niche in an old tree, often a large aspen or birch, with the female laying 5–6 eggs and typically raising a single brood, the late arrival leaving a short breeding window. It feeds on insects, caught in quick sallies from a perch among the tree crowns, often in the shaded middle layer of the forest, where the male sings persistently from a fixed song post even though the bird itself can be hard to spot; it arrives late, from late May to early June, and departs again by August for its journey to southern Asia.
Read about this species in Swedish →