The dark secret of a great songbird

First arrivals from Africa expected in mid-March

In a month or so, pied flycatchers willl migrate to Britain from Africa.

Migrant songbirds will arrive soon from Africa. The first martins and swallows are expected in mid-March, with chiffchaffs and willow warblers following a little later. In a month or two, sparrow-sized pied flycatchers will settle in Wales, having spent the winter just north of the Gulf of Guinea. A few pairs may cross the Irish Sea to nest in the oak-woods of Co Wicklow.

The aptly named pied flycatcher sallies forth from a hunting perch to catch insects on the wing. Males have tuxedo-like black-and-white plumage. Females are brown and white. The nest locations of choice are tree holes, but flycatchers take readily to artificial nest-boxes.