The Palawan flycatcher (''Ficedula platenae'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family

Muscicapidae The Old World flycatchers are a large family, the Muscicapidae, of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World (Europe, Africa and Asia), with the exception of several vagrants and two species, bluethroat (''Luscinia svecica'') and north ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the Philippines found only in the region of

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

. Along with the

Melodious babbler The melodious babbler (''Malacopteron palawanense'') is a species of bird in the family Pellorneidae. It is endemic to the Philippines and found only on Palawan and Balabac. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forest. It is threatened ...

and Falcated wren-babbler, they have been dubbed the Tres Amigos (Spanish) or Three Friends as some of the most sought after birds in Palawan.

Description and taxonomy

EBird eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, the project e ...

describes the bird as "A small bird of lowland and foothill forest on

. Favors undergrowth with palms or bamboo. Dark-brown above with a white belly, an orange chest and tail, and very pale orange on the throat and under the base of the tail. Similar to female

Palawan blue flycatcher The Palawan blue flycatcher (''Cyornis lemprieri'') is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to the Philippines found only on Palawan and its surrounding islands. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests. It i ...

, but smaller, with a brown rather than gray head. " The Palawan flycatcher has a very unusual and distinct call. Song is a soft whistled "puu-puu piii!" with the third note higher. Also gives a repeated upslurred "puuii".This call gets repeated anywhere from 10 to 15 times in quick repetition. Then it gets followed by a short 5-10 second trill. The bird also will fan out and shake its tail while doing this call. This call very insect-like call often gets mistaken as an insect's call. This species is monotypic

Ecology and behavior

Typically solitary and forages secretively on the close to the forest floor and in tangled vines, rattan and climbing bamboo where it feeds on insects. Breeding season occurs during May to September but otherwise nothing is known about its breeding behaviour and the nest remains undescribed.

Habitat and conservation status

It inhabits primary and secondary

dipterocarp forest Dipterocarpaceae is a family of flowering plants with 22 genera and about 695 known species of mainly lowland tropical forest trees. Their distribution is pantropical, from northern South America to Africa, the Seychelles, India, Indochina, Indo ...

up to 1,000 meters above sea level. It favours areas rich in

rattan Rattan, also spelled ratan (from Malay language, Malay: ''rotan''), is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the clos ...

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

and

palm tree The Arecaceae () is a family of perennial, flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are colloquially c ...

s. While they can somewhat tolerate

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has regenerated through largely natural processes after human-caused Disturbance (ecology), disturbances, such as Logging, timber harvest or agriculture clearing, or ...

, they appear to be sensitive to habitat modification It is often found on the lower

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the Canopy (biology), forest ca ...

and close to the

forest floor The forest floor, also called detritus or wikt:duff#Noun 2, duff, is the part of a forest ecosystem that mediates between the living, aboveground portion of the forest and the mineral soil, principally composed of dead and decaying plant matter ...

. They have been noted to be very faithful to their favoured sites. It has been assessed as vulnerable with a population currently between 6,000 and 15,000, the Palawan flycatcher has attracted help from conservation groups. These groups have created protected areas on these islands where logging can't occur. By doing this, the primary source of their decline is lessened. Conservation groups attempted to cultivate and restore the lands which their species was wiped from. Unlike most species, the Palawan flycatcher did not return to these lands after the restoration back to old growth. The species is present in conservation areas - the entirety of Palawan has been designated a biosphere reserve but actual protection and enforcement against logging and hunting has been difficult. They are present in the protected area of the

Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is a protected area in the Philippines. The park is located in the Saint Paul Mountain Range on the western coast of the island of Palawan, about north of the city of Puerto Princesa, and c ...

. Conservation actions proposed include surveys in remaining lowland forests in order to better understand population and distribution, habitat and tolerance for degradation. Support the proposed extension of

and formally protect other key sites in

Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines is one of seven operating units of the Bureau of Corrections under the Department of Justice. Currently, it houses some 4,000 inmates. History American territorial peri ...

and Mt. Victoria.

References

Palawan flycatcher Birds of Palawan Palawan flycatcher Palawan flycatcher Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Muscicapidae-stub Endemic birds of the Philippines