The Sunda forktail (''Enicurus velatus'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

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 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 found els ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, where it is restricted to the islands of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

and Sumatra. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and 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 ...

is boulder strewn streams in tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucia ...

from 600–2000 m. More rarely the species occurs closer to sea level. The species is common in Sumatra, but is rarer in Java, where the

white-crowned forktail The white-crowned forktail (''Enicurus leschenaulti'') is a species of forktail in the family Muscicapidae. Scientifically described in 1818, it has five subspecies, each occupying a different geographic range. The largest of the forktails, ''E ...

is more common. Sunda Forktail female and juvenile

The Sunda forktail is n length with a deeply forked tail. The male has a white breast, belly and rump, and black wings, and a dark grey back and head. There is a small white line between the eyes. The tail is black with white barring. The female is similar to the male but has a brown crown and nape. There are two subspecies described, the nominate race occurring on Java. The Sumatran subspecies, ''sumatranus'', differs from the nominate in having more rufous brown on the female. The call of his species is a hard shrill "chee" or "hie-tie-tie" The Sunda forktail feeds on aquatic insects and their larvae, as well as snails. The

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materi ...

of this species is a large cup of woven mosses, grasses leaves and wood fibres. Two whitish with red spotting eggs are a laid.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q73839 Sunda forktail Birds of Sumatra Birds of Java Sunda forktail Taxonomy articles created by Polbot