Blue-breasted Flycatcher Cyornis herioti Scientific name definitions

The Blue-breasted Flycatcher (Cyornis herioti) is an understory flycatcher that is usually frustratingly hard to locate even in its preferred habitat. The species is restricted to low to mid-elevation rainforest habitats in the Luzon region of northern Philippines. Unobtrusive and fairly quiet, its local presence may be revealed by its musical but fairly simple song as well as its rather piercing and rattling calls. The males appear mainly rather dark blue in the dim light typical of their habitat, and the females have a grayish head contrasting with a pale rufous throat. Both males and females have white bellies and are rather big and with large bills. Though the nominate population is distinctive within its range, the male of the form found in the southeastern peninsula of Luzon and nearby Catanduanes, C. h. camarinensis, is pale rufous breasted and thus resembles a Mangrove Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis rufigastra) and Palawan Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis lemprieri); and thus it has recently been proposed for recognition as a separate species. Very little is known of the biology of Cyornis herioti, a threatened endemic species to the Luzon region. The only nest found was a moss-covered cup which held two eggs, located in a rock crevice bordering a river.