Spotted flycatcher
Muscicapa striata (Pallas, 1764)
The spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata), also called the Mediterranean flycatcher, is a bird in the family Muscicapidae, part of the songbirds and other perching birds. It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 15.9 g (from 15.2 to 18.5 g reported) and a wingspan of 24 cm.
Quick facts about the spotted flycatcher
This migratory, perching invertivore lives in forest habitats and has a geographic range of 16,750,000 km². Clutches hold 3.5 eggs, with 1.5 clutches per year and an incubation period of 13.5 days; the species is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.
- Weight
- 15.2 g – 18.5 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 24 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 11.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 13.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the spotted flycatcher?
Photos of the spotted flycatcher
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1 more photo exists under a licence we cannot display: view at source.
Where does the spotted flycatcher live?
Not recorded
What is the spotted flycatcher?
The spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata) is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family. It breeds in most of Europe and in the Palearctic to Siberia, and is migratory, wintering in Africa and south western Asia. It is declining in parts of its range.
This is an undistinguished looking bird with long wings and tail. The adults have grey-brown upperparts and whitish underparts, with a streaked crown and breast, giving rise to the bird's common name. The legs are short and black, and the bill is black and has the broad but pointed shape typical of aerial insectivores. Juveniles are browner than adults and have spots on the upperparts.
From the Wikipedia article “Spotted flycatcher” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spotted_flycatcher&oldid=1384851823), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the spotted flycatcher sound like?
Is the spotted flycatcher endangered?
The spotted flycatcher is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the spotted flycatcher classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyMuscicapidae
- genusMuscicapa
- SpeciesMuscicapa striata (Pallas, 1764)
Synonyms Motacilla striata, Muscicapa grisola, Muscicapa grisola sibirica
Other names and names in other languages (83)
- Mediterranean flycatcherEnglish
- SPFLEnglish
- Europese VlieëvangerAfrikaans
- الذبابيArabic
- تبابي منقطArabic
- ذبابي منقطArabic
- خاطف الذباب المرقطArabic
- خطاف الذباب الأرقطArabic
- mosqueruAsturian
- Валасяніца шэраяBelarusian
- Шэрая валасяніцаBelarusian
- Шэрая валасянiцаBelarusian
- Сива мухоловкаBulgarian
- Flouper-kelienBreton
- Flouperig boutinBreton
- MenjamosquesCatalan
- papamosques grisCatalan
- Сӑрӑ шӑнатытанChuvash
- lejsek šedýCzech
- gwybedog mannogWelsh
- Gwybedogion MannogWelsh
- Grå FluesnapperDanish
- GrauschnäpperGerman
- Grauer FliegenschnäpperGerman
- ΣταχτομυγοχάφτηςGreek
- griza muŝkaptuloEsperanto
- Papamoscas grisSpanish
- hall-kärbsenäppEstonian
- Euli-txori grisBasque
- مگس گیر خالدارPersian
- harmaasieppoFinnish
- gránápurFaroese
- GrágrípurGránápurFaroese
- gobemouche grisFrench
- Gobe-mouche grisFrench
- Grä fleegensnaperNorthern Frisian
- Feale MiggesnapperWestern Frisian
- Cuilire liathIrish
- breacan sgiobaltScottish Gaelic
- breacain sgiobaltaScottish Gaelic
- gdeacan sgiobaltScottish Gaelic
- glac nan cuileagScottish Gaelic
- glacan nan cuileagScottish Gaelic
- Papamoscas cincentoGalician
- Skybbyltagh lheeahManx
- חטפית אפורהHebrew
- szürke légykapóHungarian
- Ճանճորս մոխրագույնArmenian
- Մոխրագույն ճանճորսArmenian
- GrágrípurIcelandic
- PigliamoscheItalian
- Pigliamosche comuneItalian
- ムナフヒタキJapanese
- Сұр шыбыншыKazakh
- 회색딱새Korean
- Gwybesser brythCornish
- Groe MéckefänkertLuxembourgish
- pilkoji musinukėLithuanian
- pelēkais mušķērājsLatvian
- сиво муварчеMacedonian
- Бөртөт намнаахайMongolian
- grauwe vliegenvangerDutch
- gråflugesnapparNorwegian Nynorsk
- muchołówka szaraPolish
- taralhão-cinzentoPortuguese
- papa-moscas-cinzentoPortuguese
- Muscar surRomanian
- Muscarul surRomanian
- Серая мухоловкаRussian
- RáneslivkkárNorthern Sami
- muchár sivýSlovak
- sivi muharSlovenian
- mizëkapësi vijoshAlbanian
- mizëkapësi i përhimtëAlbanian
- mizëngrënësja e përhimtëAlbanian
- Siva muharicaSerbian
- Сива мухарицаSerbian
- grå flugsnappareSwedish
- benekli sinekkapanTurkish
- мухоловка сіраUkrainian
- CiapamoscheVenetian
- 斑鶲Chinese
- 斑鹟Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the spotted flycatcher
Other species in the same genus Muscicapa.
Dark-sided flycatcher
Muscicapa sibirica
Ferruginous flycatcher
Muscicapa ferruginea
Grey-streaked flycatcher
Muscicapa griseisticta
Brown-breasted flycatcher
Muscicapa muttui
Gambaga flycatcher
Muscicapa gambagae
African dusky flycatcher
Muscicapa adusta
CompareSpotted flycatcher vs Dark-sided flycatcherSpotted flycatcher vs Ferruginous flycatcherSpotted flycatcher vs Grey-streaked flycatcherSpotted flycatcher vs Brown-breasted flycatcher
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the spotted flycatcher?
The spotted flycatcher is a bird in the family Muscicapidae and the order Passeriformes, grouped with the songbirds and other perching birds.
How much does a spotted flycatcher weigh?
An adult spotted flycatcher weighs 15.9 g, with reported values from 15.2 to 18.5 g. Its wingspan is 24 cm.
What does the spotted flycatcher eat?
The spotted flycatcher is an invertivore, and its trophic level is carnivore.
Is the spotted flycatcher endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) in the global IUCN assessment, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a spotted flycatcher live?
The spotted flycatcher has a lifespan of 11.8 years, and it reaches sexual maturity at 1 year.
How many eggs does the spotted flycatcher lay?
The spotted flycatcher lays 3.5 eggs per clutch, with 1.5 clutches per year and an incubation period of 13.5 days.
Is the spotted flycatcher migratory?
Yes, the spotted flycatcher is migratory, and its geographic range covers 16,750,000 km².
Who named the spotted flycatcher?
The spotted flycatcher was named Muscicapa striata by (Pallas, 1764).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/spotted-flycatcher
“Spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/spotted-flycatcher.
@misc{spotted_flycatcher_2026,
title = {Spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/spotted-flycatcher},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}