Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike

The Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike (Hemipus picatus) is a small passerine bird currently placed in the cuckoo-shrike family but possibly closer to the bushshrikesof Africa. It is found in the forests of tropical southern Asia from the Himalayas and hills of the Indian subcontinent east to Indonesia. Mainly insectivorous it is found hunting in the mid-canopy of forests, often joining mixed-species foraging flocks. They perch upright and have a distinctive pattern of black and white, males being more shiny black than the females. In some populations the colour of the back is brownish while others have a dark wash on the underside.