White-tailed Robin (Myiomela leucura) ©WikiC

This third part of the Muscicapidae – Chats, Old World Flycatchers family starts with the White-tailed Robin (Myiomela leucura). What an amazing group of avian wonders from Our Lord, their Creator.

Part I and Part II of the Sunday Inspiration covered over half of the 321 member Chat and Old World Flycatcher family. This week, we should be able to finish up. Meagan Fee came back for the Christmas break (she was our summer intern at Faith) and played a fantastic violin piece for our offering last Sunday. It is fantastic and long enough, I hope, to cover the slideshow. :0)

Back to the flycatchers. The Genera covered this week are the Myiomela, Tarsiger, Enicurus, Myophonus, Cinclidium, Ficedula, Muscicapella, Phoenicurus, Monticola, Saxicola, Campicoloides, Emarginata, Pinarochroa, Thamnolaea, Myrmecocichla, Oenanthe, Pinarornis, Namibornis and Humblotia.

Old World flycatchers live in almost every environment with a suitable supply of trees, from dense forest to open scrub, and even the montane woodland of the Himalayas. The more northerly species migrate south in winter, ensuring a continuous diet of insects.

Malabar Whistling Thrush (Myophonus horsfieldii) by Nikhil Devasar

“I will whistle for them to gather them together, For I have redeemed them; And they will be as numerous as they were before. (Zechariah 10:8 NASB)

Whistling thrushes are mostly seen in hilly areas except during winter when they may descend to streams near the plains. They specialize in feeding on snails and their strong hooked bills are used to deal with them. They may choose a particular rock on which they crack the shells.

The whistling of a Malabar Whistling Thrush from xeno-canto by David Farrow.

Blue-fronted Robin (Cinclidium frontale) ©WikiC

The Blue-fronted Robin (Cinclidium frontale) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Cinclidium. It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and possibly Nepal. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.

Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) Breeding male ©WikiC

The Wheatears, Oenanthe, have characteristic black and white or red and white markings on their rumps or their long tails. Most species are strongly sexually dimorphic; only the male has the striking plumage patterns characteristic of the genus, though the females share the white or red rump patches.

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Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me. (Isaiah 38:14 KJV)

“O Come, O Come Emmanuel”  by Meagan Fee on Violin and Jill Foster accompanying

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Sunday Inspiration – Chats and Old World Flycatchers I
Sunday Inspiration – Chats and Old World Flycatchers II
Muscicapidae – Chats, Old World Flycatchers

Gideon

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